Despite a desire to finally step behind the camera as a director, Matt Damon's busy schedule has proved to be a challenge, with at least one previous planned project – Manchester By The Sea – ending up in the hands of scriptwriter Kenneth Lonergan. Now another film sitting on his directorial debut To Do List – Father Daughter Time – has been handed over to someone else, in this case Gavin O'Connor.
Warner Bros. snapped up the rights to Matthew Aldrich's spec Father Daughter Time: A Tale Of Armed Robbery And Eskimo Kisses back in 2011, and Damon has been attached since then, developing the film with an eye to starring and calling the shots. The script follows a man on the lam with his daughter who just happens to be his accomplice on a crime spree that spreads across three US states. Now, though, looking to fit in some time with his own family, Damon has decided to step away, leaving the way clear for O'Connor – who worked with Damon's producing partner Ben Affleck on The Accountant – to take on the job.
“As a subject I’ve always wanted to explore the father daughter relationship,” O’Connor tells Deadline. “I was a single dad for many years. And being a good father — a good example to my daughter — was deeply important to me. But as fathers we’re human, flawed, we make mistakes, and maybe we didn’t have good examples growing up — no strong female role models. So a daughter can be like a Martian to us. Yet you’re a part of each other. You will always be a part of them and they will always be a part of you. We form each other. And I wanted to explore that. How do you live inside that? How do you become a great dad to a daughter when no one taught you how?" For more from O'Connor, head to Deadline's site.
This one will be jostling for attention with some other O'Connor projects, including World War II thriller Atlantic Wall that has Bradley Cooper attached and a new take on The Green Hornet.