Ah, the old story of a chunk of casting revealed by a local paper bringing word of filming plans (and spotted by The Film Stage). In this case, the movie is Lenny Abrahamson’s Frank, and the casting in question relates to Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Frank, written by Jon Ronson and** Tinker Tailor**’s Peter Straughan, tells the story of a young wannabe musician (Domhnall Gleeson, most recently seen in Anna Karenina) who joins a band led by the quirky, mysterious front man named Frank (Michael Fassbender).
Of course, our hero thinks this could be his big chance, but he doesn’t realise quite what he’s gotten himself into. There’s no word yet on whom exactly Gyllenhaal will play.
Ronson and Straughan have based the largely fictional tale on the antics of cult musician and comedy legend Chris Sievey, who first found recognition as the leader of punk group The Freshies, but would go on to be much more well known for the papier mache head and laugh-grabbing stylings of Frank Sidebottom. It’s perhaps not that shocking to learn that Ronson was part of Frank’s Oh Blimey Big Band, which you can see in action below.
Scoot McNairy, Mark Huberman and Bruce Macintosh are also in the cast for the film, set to shoot in Dublin and New Mexico this year.