As some (such as yours truly) anxiously await the release of his Donald Rumsfeld documentary, The Unknown Known, and a rare narrative feature, Freezing People is Easy, helmer Errol Morris has added another project of the latter stripe to his slate: Holland, Michigan, pegged as a darkly comedic thriller set in the suburbs. Should that quickly pique your interest, it’s unfortunate that no further details on the Andrew Sodroski-penned script have been made available at this point in time.
But can we be sold right off the bat? Though it’s, obviously, too early to make a judgement on how this may turn out, what’s there is rather good — and good enough to keep an eye out, no less. With Le Grisbi producing, Morris is expected to begin rolling cameras next spring.
In other directorial news, the long-gestating Selma — a biopic focused on an indelible moment in the (already legendary) life and career of Martin Luther King Jr. — is to be resurrected with the help of recent Sundance darling Ava DuVernay (Middle of Nowhere). Once-prospective helmer Lee Daniels likely got an MLK fill after directing [Title Not Available], in which the Civil Rights icon is portrayed by Nelsan Ellis — not his original pick, David Oyelowo, who is still on-track to appear as King, and will reunite with his Nowhere director.
DuVernay is in the process of wrapping up screenplay duties with original scribe Paul Webb, the hope being that Selma will start filming before a few other MLK-related projects — most notably Paul Greengrass‘ Memphis and a Spielberg-produced title — can make their way to theaters. If it’s a little exasperating, think of the whole situation from this end: in a world where White House-set Die Hard riffs have to get the jump on release dates and dollars, it’s evident that we could be dealing with a worse kind of competing project.
What do you think of Morris’ next endeavor? Do you think Selma should be resurrected, and in this fashion?