After carving a successful screenwriting career penning blockbusters for such directors as Michael Bay (”Transformers”), J.J. Abrams (”Star Trek,” “Mission: Impossible 3”) and Jon Favreau (”Cowboys & Aliens”) as well as producing television shows like “Fringe” and “Alias,” one half of the renowned writing duo of Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci is set to venture solo into the world of directing with Kurtzman gearing up his directorial debut.
Titled, “Welcome To People,” the script has been a bit of a hot one with Hilary Swank and Amy Adams both showing interest at various points, but Kurtzman needn’t worry about landing top flight talent as joining the previously announced Chris Pine and Elizabeth Banks, “Tron: Legacy” star Olivia Wilde has now signed on to the picture.
The film tells the story of a twenty-something business man (Pine) who, after the death of his father, must deliver $150,000 in cash to an alcoholic sister (Banks) he didn’t know he had, as well as her son, a 12-year-old with major anger management issues. The man doesn’t want to part with the money but still reaches out to them without telling them who he really is. Wilde will play Pine’s girlfriend, Hannah.
The film is being produced by the duo of Kurtzman and Orci under their Paper Products shingle and will be released by DreamWorks. The film goes in front of cameras in Los Angeles this month. So will this be Kurtzman’s first step out of tentpole filmmaking into the arena of “prestige movies”? Guess we’ll have to wait and see but with this cast and the ambitious storyline, it’s one we’re keeping an eye on.
