Oscar Isaac Eyes Political Thriller ‘A Foreigner’ From ‘Me And Earl And The Dying Girl’ Director
As excited as we are to seeOscar Isaacas Poe Dameron in next month’sStar Wars: The Force Awakens– and as Apocalypse in next year’sX-Men: Apocalypse— it’s a relief to hear he isn’t abandoning the kind of non-franchise dramas he built his reputation on in the first place. Isaac’s next new gig looks likely to beA Foreigner, fromMe and Earl and the Dying GirlhelmerAlfonso Gomez-Rejon.
Varietycautions that these aren’t done deals. Isaac is in early talks, and Gomez-Rejon is still in negotiations as well. It’s also unclear when the film would shoot, as Isaac will likely be busy withStar Wars Episode VIIIfor much of next year. But the outlook seems good, and both are apparently very interested in the project.
The political thriller is based onDavid Grann’s2011 New Yorker article “A Murder Foretold,“which tells the tale of Guatemalan lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg. After Rosenberg was killed in 2009, a video emerged that he had recorded before his death, accusing Guatemalan president Álvaro Colom of orchestrating his murder. The script is written byChris Terrio, who followed up his Oscar-winning script forArgowithBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
A Foreignerhas been kicking around for a while already. At one point Paramount wanted Matt Damon to take it on as his feature directing debut. But things seem to be coming together quickly now. The studio leapt to offer Gomez-Rejon the film after he exitedCollateral Beautyearlier this month, and around the same time started courting Isaac, who is Guatemalan-American, for the lead.
Isaac has been having a great year, even before the release ofStar Wars: The Force Awakens. He starred with fellowForce Awakenscast member Domhnall Gleeson in Alex Garland’s acclaimedEx Machina, and over the summer led David Simon’s new miniseries for HBO,Show Me a Hero. He was even the best part of the otherwise limp indie dramaMojave. And just recently he finished shooting Terry George’sThe Promisewith Christian Bale, which should open sometime next year.
Gomez-Rejon’s 2015 hasn’t been too shabby either. The warm Sundance reception for his coming-of-age picMe and Earl and the Dying Girlturned him from a relative newcomer (though a TV vet,Me and Earlwas only his second film) to an in-demand name. He quickly bookedCollateral Beauty, and when that one fell apart over “creative differences” he signed on forThe Current Warstarring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jake Gyllenhaal.
