According to Deadline, Oscar winner J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) and twice-Oscar nominated Julie Delpy (Before Midnight) are confirmed to star in the drama The Bachelors.
Written and directed by Kurt Voelker (Sweet November), the drama is said to be similar to Ordinary People, which won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1981. The story centers on a widower and his 17-year-old son who move to Los Angeles from their small Northern California town, hoping for a new start. Their hopes are realized as their lives in L.A. entail a new job, a new school, and a couple of extraordinary women who enter their lives.
Producers are Matt Baer (Unbroken), George Parra (Silver Linings Playbook), Joe McKelheer (Barely Lethal), and Bill Kiely (Chasing Giants). Windowseat Entertainment is financing. Windowseat’s McKelheer said “We were immediately drawn to The Bachelors as an intimate, timeless human story that is superbly written.”
Fortitude International is handling foreign rights. Nadine de Barros, co-founder of Fortitude, said “We are thrilled to have such strong performers joining this project.” She added, “This award-winning pair are the perfect talents to bring this beautifully written story to the big screen and we are excited to bring this film to Berlin.”
Simmons was the voice of the villain Kai in the recent animated mega-hit Kung Fu Panda 3. He has definitely been keeping busy, and has several movies opening later this year, including The Meddler starring Susan Sarandon and Rose Byrne opening April 22, The Accountant starring Ben Affleck and Anna Kendrick opening October 7th, and the comedy Bastards starring Owen Wilson and Ed Helms which hits theaters on November 4th. He has finished filming La La Land opposite Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone; the musical romantic comedy is currently in post-production.
Delpy, known for her talky art house films, was Oscar-nominated twice for Adapted Screenplay for 2004’s Before Sunset and 2013’s Before Midnight, along with her co-writers Ethan Hawke (himself a twice-Oscar-nominated actor as well as a co-star in both films) and Oscar-nominated director-writer-producer Richard Linklater (Boyhood), who helmed both films. She was in last year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron and will be seen in her rom-com Lolo, which she wrote, directed and starred in, when it opens March 11th.
Casting for The Bachelors is currently underway. The feature will start shooting in Los Angeles on March 14th.
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