After stacking up a handful of projects, we finally got the welcome news late last year that Amores Perros director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu has found his next project, one that will take him in a wildly different direction. Coming off his bleak drama Biutiful, he has been lining up a dark comedy named Birdman and now we’ve finally got the official ensemble, which includes some dream casting.
Written alongside Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo, the film takes place in just one location over three days with the main character plays a former actor, who once played an iconic superhero and now mounts a Broadway play in a bid to reclaim past glory.
THR now lets us know that the Babel director actually bagged an actor with real-life similarities, as Batman‘s Michael Keaton has joined as the lead. Emma Stone has also come aboard, playing Keaton’s daughter and assistant, recently released from rehab, while 21 Grams star Naomi Watts will reteam with her director as an actress in the play, based on a Raymond Chandler short story. Lastly, Zach Galifianakis rounds out the initial cast of the Fox Searchlight and New Regency production, playing a “conniving” producer.
With the play’s leading man and ex-wife still yet to be cast, there’s more announcements to come, but the idea of Galifianakis, let alone the rest of this promising cast, starring in a film from Inarritu has us mightily intrigued. Considering the mixed response of his last effort, this looks like a necessary directional shift and one we can’t wait to see.
Production kicks off next month.
What do you think of the casting? Are you a fan of Inarritu?