If it weren’t for the recent likes of Bad Lieutenant and, to a lesser degree, MacGruber, we’d really be worrying that Val Kilmer was sticking with tiny scale indie films (most of which rarely make it over here) for good. He’s not likely to change that impression very soon, though, since he’s now working on Deep in the Heart, about a real-life Texas entrepreneur and recovering alcoholic who has become one of the biggest charitable contributors in America.
Napoleon Dynamite’s Jon Gries, who most memorably appeared on screen with Kilmer in 1985’s Real Genius, is playing Richard Wallrath, a man who completely turned his life around. “Wallrath is an alcoholic who hit rock bottom and lost everything, then reinvented himself, re-established his relationships with his family and built a multimillion-dollar business," co-producer Scott Duthie tells The Hollywood Reporter.
As well as forging a new business, Wallrath contributed millions to organisations such as Future Farmers of America, which helps put kids through college.
Kilmer, meanwhile, will be playing a character known as “The Bearded Man,” a Jesus-alike figure who appears in Wallrath’s mind to help him through the tough situations he finds himself in.
**Young Guns **director Christopher Cain is calling the shots right now in Texas, though this being the world of low-budget indies, there’s no distributor attached just yet and no set release date.