David O. Russell is about to add 'teen rom-com' to one of the most eclectic CVs in Hollywood, with news that he's tackling Aaron And Sarah for indie production house Fox 2000.
In a similar vein to John Hughes '80s teen comedies, Aaron And Sarah tells the story of a dorky teenager and a popular girl who become friends and, over the course of four fraught high-school years, four proms and a funeral, fall in love. Ashe course of true love never runs smooth though, least of all when the director is the man responsible for Spanking The Monkey, so it's safe to expect deviations from the John Hughes playbook and the odd moment of existentialist meltdown from the young lovers.
Russell is certainly a leftfield choice for the material, and it sees him emerging from the doldrums after the financial problems which beset his most recent project, Nailed. While never the most prolific, Russell's output has always been interesting, from the blistering Gulf War satire Three Kings to 2004's whimsical I Heart Huckabees, and it's good to see him in from the cold.**
**Aaron And Sarah joins the Weinstein-produced The Silver Lining Playbook on Russell's slate, although no word yet on when either is scheduled to go into production.