Ang Lee's last three films were a sexually-charged World War II spy thriller, a love story between shepherds and a contemplative superhero movie. Before that he'd done a wu shu extravaganza, a US Civil War epic and an intimate family drama. So naturally his next film is set to be a comedy, called Taking Woodstock and centred around the legendary 1969 music festival.
It's based on the story of Elliot Tiber, the man who found Woodstock its venue near Bethel after difficulties caused a change in plan from its original location, and who provided the necessary music licence. But there look set to be a few changes - the film will focus on an everyman working at his parents' motel who inadvertently puts the generation-defining concert in motion.
The Tiber character will be the clear lead, but with a "colourful ensemble" around him. There's no decision yet on whether they'll be using period music for the score, but the film won't simply be about the concert itself, which has, after all, been done a few times (perhaps done best, however, here{
The plan is to put the film into production before the end of the year - which means it looks like Lee's planned A Little Game, about a couple who pretend to have broken up as a joke and then learn that all their friends thought they were terrible together, may have been abandoned for now. So, this sounds groovy, baby, right? Or is it not your bag?