A movie that will feature lots of driving.

Dignity Film Finance announced that they have bought the rights to the 2011 book “The God of Driving: How I Overcame Fear and Put Myself in the Driver’s Seat (with the Help of a Good and Mysterious Man),” by Amy Fine Collins. Sue Kramer will write the script and direct.

Here’s how Amazon describes the book:

As chief style journalist for Vanity Fair, Amy Fine Collins has a whirlwind schedule, packed with glittery parties, swanky shows, and high-profile assignments that keep her busy twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week – and as if that’s not enough, she’s a wife and mother too. In Manhattan where taxis and limousines reign, she never had the time – or need – to learn how to drive. But when the brilliant and determined Amy decided it was time to get behind the wheel and ultimately overcome her lifelong phobia of driving, nothing (except a red light) could stop her. Amy’s first driving instructor was efficient, but not very effective, so she dropped her lessons and went back to her glamorous life. But then, as only a true compulsive would, she decided to call the school again and give driving lessons another whirl. This time she was paired with an outrageously handsome, exotic, and mysterious Turkish man named Attila, a.k.a.The God of Driving. Both a character study and a brisk-paced inspirational tale, THE GOD OF DRIVING follows Collins as she becomes captivated by her wise, charismatic instructor and his secret past and obsessed with all things automotive – from motorcycles and sports cars to speedways. And while Attila is totally changing her life, she is also completely transforming his. Lively, humorous, and always entertaining, THE GOD OF DRIVING is a fascinating journalistic odyssey centered on the unlikely bond between a fashionable Manhattan socialite and her magnetic, elusive, guru-like driving instructor.

Ah, sounds charming. My driving teacher was a bored twentysomething named Neil. I made the mistake of telling him once that we were in the neighborhood where the boy I had a crush on lived, so he kept on bringing me back there to practice. Luckily, the boy in question never emerged to see me struggling through a K-turn.

Kramer says:

“As a writer/director, I was completely captivated by the unique characters in Amy Fine Collins memoir. ‘God of Driving’ is a road map of life, romance and style. It is one of the most unique love stories I have ever read. It is a filmmaker’s dream to cast this movie—for both leads are dream roles of a lifetime; complex and deeply multi-layered not to mention the most stylized, fashion-centric film since Devil Wears Prada.”

And Fine Collins says:

“Sue Kramer has the humor, passion, instincts, and sophistication to bring ‘The God of Driving’ to life on the screen. I’m thrilled with how she gets the story completely, all the glamour and the grit. She is the ideal writer-director for this film.”

Everyone is so happy!

DFF is beginning the casting process, and plans to film in spring 2014.

Can Dennis Lehane turn this into a movie?

Here’s a tiny bit of progress on a project that’s been kicking around forever. Deadline  says that Dennis Lehane will write the script for “Travis McGee,” an adaptation of the 1964 John D.MacDonald novel “The Deep Blue Good-by.” That was the introduction to Travis McGee, who became the star of many more novels by MacDonald. Leonardo DiCaprio has had plans to produce and star in the movie since 2009. Paul Greengrass and Oliver Stone are names that have been mentioned for the directing gig.

Here’s what they say on Amazon about the character:

TRAVIS McGEE
He’s a self-described beach bum who won his houseboat in a card game. He’s also a knight errant who’s wary of credit cards, retirement benefits, political parties, mortgages, and television. He only works when his cash runs out and his rule is simple: he’ll help you find whatever was taken from you, as long as he can keep half….

Then they have many worshipful quotes from popular authors about MacDonald:

“….the great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller.”
–STEPHEN KING
“….a master storyteller, a masterful suspense writer.”
–MARY HIGGINS CLARK
“….a dominant influence on writers crafting the continuing series character.”
–SUE GRAFTON:

This all seems to say that if you like novels about crime and tough guys, you should read the Travis McGee novels.

Lehane is, of course, an accomplished novelist in his own right, whose books have lately been catnip for Hollywood. “Mystic River,” “Gone Baby Gone,” the upcoming “Animal Rescue,” and “Shutter Island,” which starred DiCaprio. Ben Affleck is planning an adaptation of Lehane’s novel “Live By Night” for his next project. Lehane has also written scripts for TV series, such as “The Wire.” Supposedly other writers have tried to write the script  for “Travis McGee,” such as Mark Boal and David James Kelly, but they weren’t able to get it going. Let’s see what Lehane can do.

Zac Efron will turn informant in "Narc."

There’s nothing Hollywood likes better than a movie that can be summed up in a phrase. Not a sentence–a phrase. Deadline  reports that Fox is developing “Narc,” a “based on a true story” crime drama that they’re describing as a “college Donnie Brasco.” They plan for Zac Efron to star.

Here’s where the teen/early twenties part comes in–”Narc” is the story of “a student, frat president, and lacrosse team captain who’s busted for drugs intended for a party, then secretly turns narc and helps the cops bust criminals while carrying on his BMOC campus life.” (BMOC means “big man on campus”–did everyone else know that?) They haven’t set a writer or director yet.

Efron is keeping busy, with many projects in the pipeline. He’ll be seen in the fall in the comedy “Are We Offiically Dating?” and the JFK assassination ensemble drama “Parkland.” He’s filming another college set movie, “Townies,” and also is set for “Autobahn,” an action movie set on you guess what road.

Liam Hemsworth signs on to "Aurora Rising," a daredevil pilot movie clearly in need of a beach volleyball scene.

I’ll be so sorry when the Cannes Film Festival ends. Casting news sounds so much more exciting when you can frame it as “a deal announced at Cannes,” or “news from the Croisette,” or “we hear from the South of France.” But let’s enjoy it while we can. Deadline reports, via Cannes,  Liam Hemsworth will star in “Aurora Rising” for Relativity Media.

Christian Gudegast wrote the script. Hemsworth will play “a Southern California surfer turned military fighter pilot who, after acing a complicated and messy first combat mission, gets recruited to be part of an elite team to test the next generation of aircraft. This happens just as an international conflict begins to escalate.” Oh no, I hate it when that happens.

Hemsworth will be seen on August 16th in Relativity’s thriller “Paranoia,” with Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman. In November he’ll be on screens in a little movie called “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.”

Christian Borle jumps to the big screen.

Interesting casting, but mostly because of what it shows about how a career can develop. Deadline  reports that Christian Borle has joined the cast of Michael Mann’s untitled “cyber thriller” (“cyber” is a word that feels very old-fashioned, very ’90s, doesn’t it?). We know nothing about the plot, because movie plots are matters of national security. We do know that other cast members include Chris Hemsworth, Viola Davis and Holt McCallany, and that the top secret script was written by Mann and Morgan Davis Foehl. You can learn more if you happen to be in the region of China where they plan to begin shooting later this month.

I said this was interesting in terms of a career because Borle was a theater lifer, all stage work with some commercials, a “Law & Order,” a walk on in a movie or TV show mixed in here and there. He never was a Broadway star, just a hard working triple threat, who finally had a breakthrough in 2012 with his Tony Award winning role in “Peter and the Starcatcher.” Would that have gotten him a role in a Michael Mann? No–a lot of people win a Tony and then go back to the tough life of trying to make a living on stage.

However, Borle happened to be cast in “Smash,” the high-profile flop on NBC about the making of a Broadway musical that finally ended its tortured, two season run last week. “Smash” was never very good, though some found entertainment in its badness, but it did give some Broadway folk a chance to be seen by a lot more people than ever before. “Smash’s ratings were low, but they still totaled up to more people than hit a Broadway show in a week. They also exposed talent to Hollywood types who may not want to spend their trips to New York sitting through the good and the bad of Broadway.

While no one would admit it, I don’t think anyone involved in “Smash” can be thrilled with the way it turned out. However, there are some people who can be thrilled for what it did for their careers.

Get ready for the Hollywood version.

If you were one of the people who screamed in pain when you heard that Park Chan-wook’s “Old Boy” was being remade by Hollywood, well, then you’ll no doubt be just as unhappy to hear that an English language remake of another of his films, “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance,” is now also in the works. Deadline http://www.deadline.com/2013/05/cannes-park-chan-wooks-sympathy-for-mr-vengeance-getting-remake/ has the news from Cannes that Brian Tucker, who wrote the forgettable “Broken City,” has written the script. Silver Reel , Lotus Entertainment, di Bonaventura Pictures, and CJ Entertainment, are amongst the eight million entities involved in producing.

“Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance” is the first film in Park Chan-wook’s “Vengeance Trilogy.” It focuses on “two men who are bound by their common sense of loss and headed on a collision course of revenge.” The other parts of the trilogy are “Old Boy” and “Lady Vengeance.” The English language remake of “Old Boy,” dramatically retitled “Oldboy,” will be released in October. Spike Lee directs a cast that includes Samuel L. Jackson, Josh Brolin, Sharlto Copley, and Elizabeth Olsen.

Sam Claflin goes to Oxford in "Posh."

You can judge a book or movie by its title. For example, a movie named “Posh” probably will not involve a lot of slopping around in mud in cold, drizzly climates. I would think that would be an attraction for actors, and perhaps it was one of the things that persuaded Sam Claflin to sign on to star in “Posh,” a movie based on Laura Wade’s play. Lone Sherfig will direct Wade’s screenplay. Max Irons and Douglas Booth are also in the cast, making this kind of a gift to giddy girls who think young British actors are dreamy. They’re so cultured, you know, with their accents and all that.

The Hollywood Reporter  says “Posh” is “set amongst the privileged elite of Oxford University and follows two first year students determined to join the infamous Riot Club where reputations can be made or destroyed over the course of a single evening.”

Uh oh, sounds like trouble!

Claflin will be seen later this year playing Finnick in “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.” He also has “The Quiet Ones” ready to go. Douglas Booth stars in this summer’s “Romeo and Juliet.” Max Irons surely hopes you won’t remember that he was in “The Host.” He’s currently working on “The White Queen,” a UK TV series.

Li Bingbing will work with robots in "Transformers 4."

The Hollywood Reporter announces that Li Bingbing has joined the cast of “Transformers 4.” The casting of the Chinese actress is part of Paramount’s efforts to qualify the film as a Chinese-American co-production, which will make it easier to release in the country which is one of the biggest sources of box office earnings in the world. The studio expects to add other well-known Chinese actors, and an unknown from a Chinese talent competition.

Li Bingbing is known to American audiences for her role in “Resident Evil: Retribution.” There’s no word on what role she will play in the “Transformers” extravaganza.

Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz, Stanley Tucci, Jack Reynor, and Kelsey Grammer will star in “Transformers 4.” Michael Bay directs.They’re aiming for a June 27, 2014 release.

Indie audiences went to see "Frances Ha."

Okay, I’m really misusing the phrase “gets the last laugh” in the title of this post. You use that when someone or something, in this case, that has been underestimated proves everyone wrong, and “Frances Ha,” the new movie from indie darlings Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig, has hardly been underestimated since its festival debut last fall. It got good, if not great reviews, some more ecstatic than others, and, well, did I mention the phrase “indie darlings Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig?” So it really was no surprise that it was the top indie debut this week, earning $134K from four theaters for a per screen average of $33,500. That’s slightly under Baumbach’s previous film, “Greenberg,” which also starred Gerwig, and above his best-known movie, “The Squid and the Whale,” though that did build steam and pick up a Best Screenplay nomination. “Frances Ha” will expand into the top 20 markets next weekend.

The weekend’s second best debut was “Becoming Traviata,” an opera documentary, that earned just $5,040 at one theater. That sounds terrible, and, it is, but you could also give it a break as it’s a doc with a niche audience. Another new opener, “The English Teacher,” earned just $6,000 at two theaters. There’s no way to make that sounds better. Last week’s top earner, the documentary “Stories We Tell,” did well as it expanded, earning $137K in 23 locations for a $5,960 per screen average.

Next week! We have one of the big indie guns of the weekend, “Before Midnight.” How will part three of the Ethan Hawke-Julie Delpy romantic saga hold up nine years after the last installment? Pretty well, I suspect. Also, there’s “We Steal Secrects: The Story of Wikileaks,” and the intriguingly titled “A Pig Across Paris.”

"Star Trek Into Darkness" has a good, not great opening.

Here’s what we have so far:

1. Star Trek Into Darkness (Skydance/Paramount) Week 1 [3,868 Theaters]
Friday $22.0M, Weekend $66.2M, Cume $75.5M

2. Iron Man 3 (Marvel/Disney) Week 3 [Runs 4,237]
Friday $9.6M, Weekend $35.0M, Cume $337.0M

3. The Great Gatsby (Warner Bros) Week 2 [Runs 3,550]
Friday $7.6M, Weekend $24.4M (-51%), Cume $91.2M

As will be the case throughout much of the summer, each weekend will usually be about One Big Movie and how well that movie does. The last two big weekend openers, “Iron Man 3″ and “The Great Gatsby” both overperformed. This week’s big attraction, “Star Trek Into Darkness,” did well by most standards, but did not do better than expected; in fact, some were predicting a $100 million weekend, so you could say it underperformed with $75.5 million (14% from IMAX theaters, by the way), about even with the opening of 2009′s “Star Trek.” It seems harsh to call a $75.5 million opening a disappointment, though. Then again, it’s Hollywood, so someone undoubtedly will. You’re fired, J.J. Abrams! Go find some other space franchise to destroy! Just kidding. On the bright side, “Star Trek Into Darkness” is doing well internationally, which hasn’t always been prime Star Trek ground; Deadline says they’re projecting $75 million through Sunday with just half the worldwide markets open. I suspect that’s due to the mania in emerging audiences for any kind of US blockbuster

“Iron Man 3″ continues to show strength, with another $35 million to add to its already humonguous bucket of worldwide gold coins. “Gatsby” made in its second weekend what many predicted it would earn in its opening, which must make many of the money people involved feel very good indeed.

Next week! Well, the Memorial Day weekend moviegoing kicks off early with “The Hangover Part III,” which faces heavyweight competition from “Fast & Furious 6,” a franchise that is pulling off the rare feat of getting better and more popular as it advances. “Epic,” a Fox animated movie, tries to capture the attention of family audiences.

Banderas was last seen on screen in “Ruby Sparks.” He will be seen later this year in “I’m So Excited,” directed by his longtime collaborator Pedro Almodovar. He’s also in Terrence Malick’s “Knight of Cups” (well, so far–Malick does not hesitate to leave star cast members on the cutting room floor, as they would say in the pre-digital days) and Robert Rodriguez’s “Machete Kills.”    .

Sarah Hyland will attend "Vampire Academy."

The adaptation of Richelle Mead’s “Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters” is filling out its ranks. The latest additions, according to Deadline, are Sarah Hyland, of TV’s “Modern Family,” and Gabriel Byrne, of, well, decades of lots of things.

“Vampire Academy,” as you may have guessed, involves a school with vampires and humans and their complicated relationships (we really need a cheerful, well-adjusted vampire buddy road movie, don’t we?).  Byrne will play Victor, a leader at the Academy, and Hyland will play his daughter Natalie,  the best friend of Rose and Lissa, the main characters, who will be played respectively by Lucy Fry and Zoey Deutch.

Other newcomers to the cast include Joely Richardson, who will play Queen Tatiana, leader of the Moroi, and Dominic Sherwood, who will play Christian, Lissa’s love interest. Of course he’s named Christian. Aren’t they always?

Other cast members include Olga Kurylenko, Danilo Kozlovski, Sami Gayle, Cameron Monaghan, Ashley Charles, and Claire Foy. Mark Waters is directing.

Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch join the Avengers.

It’s been no secret that more Avengers will be added to “The Avengers 2,” and rumors have suggested that those additions will be Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. Well, guess what? We have a rumor that has turned out to be true! The man himself, Joss Whedon, told IGN  that they will indeed be the new characters. Good for you, Mr. Whedon, for not acting like this is a secret of national security level importance. Everyone appreciates not being lied to.

Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are twins. Quicksilver, as you may guess, has superhuman speed, and the Scarlet Witch can “control probability.” They worked for Magneto in the Brotherhood of the Evil Mutants, but only because they had to pay off a debt to him. Eventually they’re freed from him and Iron Man recruits them for the Avengers.

Here’s what Whedon said about the characters:

“You know, they had a rough beginning. They’re interesting to me because they sort of represent the part of the world that wouldn’t necessarily agree with The Avengers. So they’re not there to make things easier. I’m not putting any characters in the movie that will make things easier.”

So yeah, they won’t be making things any easier. As for casting, well, Superherohype says that Saoirse Ronan is the “prototype” for the Scarlet Witch. Does that mean they’re looking for someone like her or will they actually just offer her the role, which would make more sense?

And if the end of “Iron Man 3″ gave you any doubts about whether Iron Man will return to the Avengers, don’t worry. When asked about Iron Man’s participation in the Avengers sequel, he said, “The question is, if The Avengers are called, does he show up? And the answer is, ‘Yes!’” Plus Robert Downey Jr. has the notoriously cheap Marvel by the throat and they’ll pay him whatever is necessary to keep him.

“The Avengers 2″ is due out in 2015.

Carey Mulligan deals with rain at Cannes.

Another Cannes project announcement. Deadline  brings word that Carey Mulligan and Matthias Schoenaerts will star in an adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s 1874 novel “Far From the Madding Crowd.” Thomas Vinterberg will direct; this will be the Danish director’s English language debut.

The novel details the adventures and misadventures of Bathsheba Everdine, a willful beauty and the men she enthralls, set in Hardy’s usual location, Wessex, a lightly fictionalized version of southwest England. There are many sheep and sheep farmers involved.

I read Hardy’s “Tess of the d’Urbervilles” and “Jude the Obscure” in high school and college and was somewhat impressed. Then I read “The Mayor of Casterbridge” and realized that I hated Hardy’s writing. I tried to read some of his poetry and hate turned to loathe. So no, I never made it to “Far from the Madding Crowd.”

Mulligan will play Bathsheba, of course, and Schoenaerts will play Gabriel Oak, the main man of Bathsheba’s numerous loves. There was a 1967 movie version of the book starring Julie Christie as Bathsheba and Alan Bates as Oak, also with Terence Stamp and Peter Finch. That is the most 1960s British cast you could possibly dream up.

Mulligan is currently on screens in “The Great Gatsby” and will be seen later this year in “Inside Llewyn Davis.” Schoenaerts is in Cannes to help promote “Blood Ties,” which also stars Marion Cotillard.

Is Christopher Nolan in Daniel Craig's future?

Okay, first be warned this is really a rumor, with the source being the not so reliable The Daily Mail. Nevertheless, I’ll mention that the tabloid says that James Bond franchise producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson have “approached” Christopher Nolan about directing the next Bond movie.

So why report a rumor from a notoriously shaky source? Because this is a case where it’s a rumor that actually makes sense–even if the Daily Mail staffers were just sitting around inventing ideas to fill column spaces and took a shot in the dark with this story, it’s still believable that  Broccoli and Wilson may indeed have approached Nolan about the job. Actually, it seems inconceivable that they wouldn’t–if nothing else, “Skyfall” taught them that a high quality director can re-invigorate the franchise, bringing in not only box office, but the critical acclaim the movies have never received. Nolan is one of the best-known and most successful filmmakers in the world, both financially and critically. If they want to top “Skyfall,” of course they would think of him.

Coming Soon says that Nolan is a Bond fan and has talked about wanting to direct one of the Bond movies. I guess the main stumbling blocks would be scheduling, as he’s deep into pre-production for “Interstellar,” and, of course, money.

Hang on and we’ll see if this is a rumor that turns into truth…

Emily Blunt may need to sing. Well, at least a little.

The “Into the Woods” cast keeps growing, or at least the number of people who are “in talks” to join the cast is growing. Today we hear from The Hollywood Reporter that Emily Blunt is the latest to talk about joining the cast. Meryl Streep and Johnny Depp are the only ones who seem to have deals locked down to star in director Rob Marshall’s adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s musical. Christine Baranski is also rumored by The Wrap  to be up for a role.

“Into the Woods” is a fractured fairy tale type story that centers around the Baker and his Wife, a couple cursed with childlessness by a witch. They venture into the woods to find the witch and break the curse, and along the way meet many characters from classic fairy tales, such as Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, Rapunzel, and Cinderella. Streep is set to play the Witch and Depp is on board for the Wolf. Chris Pine and Jake Gyllenhaal are in talks to play two bratty princes.

I don’t know anything about Blunt’s musical credentials, but as we have discussed, that doesn’t really matter. Baranski is a well-known Broadway performer who also worked with Marshall on “Chicago.” It’s not clear what role she would play, and whether her schedule on TV’s “The Good Wife” will even allow her to take part in the movie, which is supposed to film in the fall. Speaking of Broadway, Tony Award winner James Corden is rumored to be up for the role of the Baker, but it’s unclear if that’s anything beyond a rumor.

Chloe Moretz schedules yet another project.

Screen Daily  brings us a bit of casting news, interesting mainly for one thing. They tell us that Asa Butterfield and Chloe Moretz have joined the cast of “The White Circus,” a project from writing-directing team Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, who work under the name Clyde Henry. They’re known for their animated shorts, but this is their feature film debut.

Screen Daily describes “The White Circus” as a “dark fairytale of with moments of brilliant black comedy…It revolves around a young pilot who crashes his plane in a war-torn town where he befriends a talking circus bear, falls in love with a cabaret singer and challenges a maniacal despot.”

Now the interesting part (remember, I mentioned there would be something interesting)–Butterfield and Moretz worked together in 2011′s Oscar nominated “Hugo,” and now they’re back together again. Awww! Isn’t that cute? No, not really? Well, I tried.

Both have been keeping busy. Moretz books projects every week. Well, I guess she might as well work as much as possible now. She could be done when she’s 25.  She’ll be seen in the fall in the “Carrie” remake. Butterfield stars in “Ender’s Game.”

Dev Patel will need to brush up on his math terminology.

Cannes project announcement! Via The Hollywood Reporter, we have news that Dev Patel will star in an adaptation of Robert Kanigel’s book, “The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan.” Matthew Brown wrote the screenplay and will direct.

As you no doubt guessed from the title of the book involved, this is a biography. Here’s how Amazon describes it:

This moving and astonishing biography tells the improbable story of India-born Srinavasa Ramanujan Iyengar, self-taught mathematical prodigy. In 1913 Ramanujan, a 25-year-old clerk who had flunked out of two colleges, wrote a letter filled with startlingly original theorems to eminent English mathematician G. H. Hardy. Struck by the Indian’s genius, Hardy, member of the Cambridge Apostles and an obsessive cricket aficionado, brought Ramanujan to England. Over the next five years, the vegetarian Brahmin who claimed his discoveries were revealed to him by a Hindu goddess turned out influential mathematical propositions. Cut off from his young Indian wife left at home and emotionally neglected by fatherly yet aloof Hardy, Ramanujan returned to India in 1919, depressed, sullen and quarrelsome; he died one year later of tuberculosis.

I’ve heard about this story while reading books about the Raj. There’s also a fictionalized account of the Ramanujan story in “The Indian Clerk,” by David Leavitt.

Patel was last seen on the big screen in 2012′s surprise (well, sort of) hit “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.” He’s a regular on HBO’s awful drama “The Newsroom,” but we won’t hold that against him.

Scarlett Johansson will sit in the director's chair for "Summer's Crossing."

As you would expect, Scarlett Johansson has hit that “What I Really Want To Do Is Direct” phase in her career. Harder than the actual directing, of course, is finding the right material, the financing and the backing of some studio. Johansson seems to have cleared that hurdle, though–Deadline says that Aldamisa and CAA are shopping international and domestic rights to the project at Cannes.

The material is Truman Capote’s first novel, “Summer Crossing,” which actually wasn’t published in his lifetime. Capote worked on the novel for a number of years in the 1940s, but neither he nor his editor was very satisfied with it. Capote eventually discarded it, but it was apparently rescued from the trash by a house sitter at a Brooklyn Heights apartment where Capote lived for a while. The house sitter’s nephew later found the Capote papers and tried to auction them in 2004 but they didn’t sell. Eventually the New York Public Library bought them and added them to their Capote collection; “Summer Crossing” was published in 2005. [info courtesy of the always reliable Wikipedia]

Tristine Skylar is adapting the novel. Deadline says it is about “A 17-year-old debutant opts out of her parents’ Parisian travels to foster a romance with a Jewish valet parking attendant in the middle of a 1945 summer NYC heat wave.”

Johansson had this to say about the project:

“Several years ago I began working alongside the Capote estate and writer Tristine Skylar to adapt Summer Crossing, an inspired early work of Truman’s which has long captured my heart,” Johansson said. “Being able to bring this story to the screen as my full-length directorial debut is a life dream and deep privilege.”

Reese Witherspoon tries to branch out with "Inherent Vice."

Reese Witherspoon is keeping busy…with movies. We have news from Deadline that Witherspoon has joined the cast of Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s novel “Inherent Vice.”  Joaquin Phoenix, Owen Wilson and Benicio Del Toro are already set to star. Witherspoon and Phoenix have already worked together, of course, in “Walk the Line.

“Inherent Vice” is described this way by Amazon:

“It’s been a while since Doc Sportello has seen his ex- girlfriend. Suddenly she shows up with a story about a plot to kidnap a billionaire land developer whom she just happens to be in love with. It’s the tail end of the psychedelic sixties in L.A., and Doc knows that “love” is another of those words going around at the moment, like “trip” or “groovy,” except that this one usually leads to trouble.”

Ahh, the ’60s, always of great interest…to some people.

No word who Witherspoon would play, but you would guess the ex-girlfriend. She’s in that phase of her career where she’s really feeling around, trying to find roles that allow her to break out of that, well, cute Reese Witherspoon type. That’s not easy–audiences don’t like stars to change.

Witherspoon is in theaters now in a supporting role in “Mud,” and then will be seen later this year in Atom Egoyan’s “Devil’s Knot.” She’s got several other projects in the works, including “The Good Lie,” “Wish List,” and “Three Little Words.”