After being shot lost year, our curiosity about a release date for Stephen Chbowsky‘s The Perks of Being a Wallflower has now been answered. Summit Entertainment has revealed a September 14th, 2012 limited release for the film, which hints strongly towards a TIFF Festival bow. Also, according to Watson’s twitter, the trailer will drop at the pre-party for the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday, June 3rd. Watson, Lerman and Miller will be on hand to present and we’ll have an embed as soon as it hits the web.
Based off of Chbowsky’s original novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower tells the story of Charlie (Logan Lerman), an introverted freshman who is taken under the wing of a beautiful girl named Sam (Emma Watson) and her gay stepbrother, Patrick (Ezra Miller). Along the way, they encourage him to “do things” and “participate”, all in the hopes of welcoming him into the real world. Directed and adapted by Chbowsky and produced by John Malkovich, Lianne Halfon, and Russell Smith, the film also stars Mae Whitman, Dylan McDermott, and Nina Dobrev.
I’ve never been a big fan of Chbowsky’s work in film and television but his work as the author of the novel version of The Perks of Being a Wallflower was fantastic. The book is written in the form of letters Charlie writes to an anonymous friend, a format that I hope Chbowsky successfully translates to film. Though the book started off at a snail’s pace, the writing was honest, open and heartbreaking in a way that is absolutely refreshing. Charlie’s pain and the reasons why he is such a wallflower, along with his teacher and friends’ efforts to help him remember how to live, make for an incredibly gripping story. My only concern is whether or not Chbowsky’s up for the opportunity: his book was great, but his work on the screen adaptation of Rent left me wanting. But given that he’s the original author, I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do with the material.
Are you looking forward to Wallflower?