Ahead of its Sundance premiere later this month, Netflix has made another early acquisition in the Rob Burnett-directed The Fundamentals of Caring, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Being one of the only starring vehicles coming out of Sundance this year, the film features Paul Rudd (Ant-Man) as man suffering from a recent tragedy who takes a job as a caregiver to a teenage boy with muscular dystrophy. English indie actor Craig Roberts (Submarine) plays the teen while Selena Gomez (Spring Breakers) plays a young hitchhiker that the pair pick up while on a road trip. The story was adapted by Burnett from the novel The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison.
Burnett is fresh off his award-winning and long-time executive producer credit through Late Show with David Letterman where he was also a writer. He is also the creator of the television production company Worldwide Pants Incorporated. This will be his second feature film, and his first since 2012’s We Made this Movie.
After starring in the huge Marvel blockbuster Ant-Man this past summer, this film will see Rudd returning to his indie roots. Roberts, known for starring in the Richard Ayoade indie Submarine, as well as appearing in Ayoade’s 2014 follow-up The Double, made his writing and directing debut in 2015 with the Emile Hirsch-starrer Just Jim. Gomez has been consistent in her acting appearances as of late, appearing briefly in The Big Short, lending her voice to Hotel Transylvania 2, and shooting the James Franco film In Dubious Battle.
This is Netflix’s second pre-Sundance acquisition after Tallulah starring Ellen Page (Freeheld). The two films seem to fall under similar dramatic categories, featuring stories about unlikely relationships and makeshift families.
We will have more on The Fundamentals of Caring once definitive release dates have been locked in.
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