With an Oscar now on his mantelpiece for co-writing The Father (which also scored another acting award for Anthony Hopkins), director Florian Zeller is pushing ahead with the follow-up, another adaptation of one of his plays, The Son. Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern are already part of the cast, and Vanessa Kirby is joining them.
Adapted once again from a Zeller play by the director and co-writer Christopher Hampton, The Son focuses on Peter (Jackman) as his busy life with new partner Emma (Kirby) and their baby is thrown into disarray when his ex-wife Kate (Dern) turns up with their teenage son, Nicholas.
The young man is troubled, distant and angry, playing truant from school for months. Peter strives to be a better father, searching to help his son with those intimate and instinctive moments of family happiness. But the weight of Nicholas’ condition sets the family on a dangerous course...
With Film4 providing the backing, the drama should start shooting in the next few weeks.