Last month we told you that David Fincher had signed on to direct Keanu Reeves in a movie about a Chef. We since discovered that The Untitled Chef Project is a screenplay by Steven Knight, the screenwriter behind Dirty Pretty Things, Amazing Grace, Eastern Promises, and Martin Scorsese’s upcoming Dennis Lehane adaptation Shutter Island. The script which was featured on the 2007 Black List, tells the story of “A Michelin-level chef who tries to make a comeback from major personal issues. He gathers his old friends together as his ‘dream team’ and ends up falling in love with the newest member of the group.”
This week MTV got the chance to ask Fincher about the project during an interview for his latest film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Fincher called the project “good and chewy,” claiming that the movie will be “like a celibate sex comedy if that means anything.” Ummmm yeah….
And then Fincher says the magic words: “It’s really about the creative process. It’s truly an aromatic art-form, making food. I love that idea.” And with that explanation, I now understand Fincher’s attraction to the project. But Keanu Reeves, really? Fincher claims that he loves Keanu’s passion for that world. His passion for the world of cooking? But more importantly, what does Fincher think about Keanu’s acting abilities or range?
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Universal and Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski have acquired the rights to a 2007 Wall Street Journal article about the real life effects of a virtual addiction. Eastern Promises scribe Steven Knight has been hired to pen a screenplay based on Alexandra Alter‘s article, which is titled “Is This Man Cheating on His Wife”.
The article is about a Phoenix-based woman who discovers that her husband married his Second Life girlfriend in the virtual world. He claims its just a game and that they have never spoken in real life, but together they own two virtual dogs, pay a mortgage together and “spend hours shopping at the mall and taking long motorcycle rides.”
The real life wife joined an online support group for spouses of obsessive online gamers, and says her husband’s online addiction has become out of control, but she isn’t ready to move out and separate from him. The husband argues that “She watches TV, and I do this. I tried to get her involved so we could play together, but she wasn’t interested.” You can read the entire article on WSJ.com.
The concept is certainly not new. I have seen the idea on the big screen in documentary form a couple times, most recently in Second Skin. I’m actually surprised that no one has decided to adapt the idea for a fictional film. It’s not just about the effects of a video game on a relationship, but also about the effects of a virtual relationship.
source: Variety
Remember that item we ran last week — David Fincher to direct Keanu Reeves in a movie about a Chef? We didn’t know much about the project back then, but an anonymous scooper has filled me in.
The Untitled Chef Project is a screenplay by Steven Knight, the screenwriter behind Dirty Pretty Things, Amazing Grace, Eastern Promises, and Martin Scorsese’s upcoming Dennis Lehane adaptation Shutter Island. Apparently the screenplay was featured on the 2007 Black List, a list of screenplays compiled by over 150 executives and assistants. The project is now set up at Paramount. Fincher and the studio recently cleared the air, so this pairing makes sense. So what is the movie about?
“A Michelin-level chef tries to make a comeback from major personal issues. He gathers his old friends together as his ‘dream team’ and ends up falling in love with the newest member of the group.”
I have yet to read the screenplay, but the first page has a unshaven Chef named Adam shouting obscenities in French (subtitled). It seems pretty obvious that Keanu will be playing Adam.
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