After their stunning first two films (Half Nelson and Sugar), filmmaking team Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden took a departure with last year’s It’s Kind of a Funny Story. Attempting to reach a wider net, their adaptation of Ned Vizzini‘s novel was received with mix reviews and less-than-stellar box office. They are back with a new project though, Variety reports.
The duo will direct the drama Hate Mail, which follows “several Manhattanites who encounter various iterations of hate mail and grapple with the subsequent fall out of their relationships.” Not told in a linear fashion, it is said to “interweave” these stories together.
This doesn’t seem like a single character study as their first two films, but I’m all for the duo trying something new. With Ryan Gosling‘s fantastic year after Drive, Crazy, Stupid, Love. and his upcoming great turn in The Ides of March, this wasn’t his break-out. I encourage everyone to go back and check out his Oscar-nominated performance in Half Nelson, which still ranks up top.
Casting on Hate Mail begins soon with shooting starting next spring. I hope we see this one on next year’s fall film festival circuit with possibly a return to TIFF.
Are you a fan of Fleck/Boden’s films? What do you think about this one?