Penn and Pattinson Circle Fox 2000’s Water for Elephants Adaptation
Sean Penn and Robert Pattinson are circling a period piece drama at Fox 2000 titled Water for Elephants with already attached star, Reese Witherspoon. The drama based on best-selling novel by Sara Gruen is being helmed by Francis Lawrence and was penned for the big screen by scribe Richard LaGravenese.
The film is set with the Great Depression as its backdrop. It tells the story of a Cornell University veterinary student who leaves his studies after his parents are killed in a car wreck, and joins up with the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth, working as a vet for the circus. The story is told through a series of memories by Jacob Jankowski, either a ninety or ninety-three year-old man who lives in a nursing home.
In the novel Gruen set out to explore in depth the circus life during the depression era doing extensive research on the subject. Other themes the story deals with are the typical: testing of a man’s moral compass, self worth, mental illnesses, acting on emotions, illusion vs. reality, and love triangles. Gil Netter, Erwin Stoff and Andrew Tennenbaum are producing. Tennenbaum optioned the novel back in 2007.
There is no word on who Pattinson or Penn would play. One would assume that the Twilight star would be playing the lead role of Jacob whereas Penn and Witherspoon could be playing his parents or members of the circus. There are 2 characters in the book Marlena and August, a husband and wife. A star performer, Marlena, joined the circus after she ran away from home to marry August. She enjoys a special rapport with the horses and cares for them deeply, a role that would certainly suit Witherspoon. August is the head animal trainer. He is alternately charming and brutal, both to the humans and animals aboard the Benzini Brothers train. He is a paranoid schizophrenic, certainly a role that would merit Sean Penn’s talents as well.
When the studio confirms more details on the cast and characters we will let you know. These types of movies have become very saleable for the smaller studios around winter box office time as well as limited release offerings in the fall as they attract good audiences but also because of successes like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus which this movie falls somewhere in the middle.
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