Dito Montiel‘s Empire State, a cops-and-robbers drama starring Dwayne Johnson, Liam Hemsworth, and Emma Roberts, is still awaiting an official release date from Lionsgate, but that hasn’t kept the A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints writer-director from securing his next project. Titled Boulevard, the film is set to star Robin Williams and Roberto Aguire, and it’s about “a devoted husband (Williams) in a marriage of convenience until a run-in with a guarded young man (Aguire) forces him to come to terms with his own secrets.” The screenplay was written by Douglas Soesbe. [Variety]
After the fairly acclaimed Saints, Montiel’s career has skewed in an unfortunately negative direction: Fighting and The Son of No One, his two recent efforts (both starring the now-more-reputable Channing Tatum), received far less critical support than his debut, and The Son of No One in particular was an overwhelming commercial flop. That Empire State has yet to land on a date of theatrical release is probably not the most promising bit of information, either, but perhaps the partial star-wattage — and potential genre appeal — will make it a modest hit.
The casting of Williams, meanwhile, is nothing if not an encouraging sign. After re-announcing himself in a big way with Bobcat Goldthwait‘s 2009 World’s Greatest Dad, Williams hasn’t been to quick to get himself back on screens. He has a number of projects currently in the works — including The Angriest Man in Brooklyn, Look of Love, The Big Wedding, and Lee Daniels‘s The Butler — but most of them, like Montiel’s own Empire State, are still waiting for a release-date announcement to be made. That he’s jumped on the Boulevard train so early in the game is hopefully a sign of some quality in the Soesbe script.
Do you think Montiel and Williams will make a good team?