Last October, we first reported on one of writer/director/producer/work horse JJ Abrams’ side projects, family drama Infinitely Polar Bear. Back then, Mark Ruffalo was rumoured to be eyeing the lead role. Now things have moved on apace, with Ruffalo locked in to star and Zoe Saldana now in negotiations to play his wife.
Infinitely Polar Bear has nothing to do with the furry creatures: it’s actually the story of a bi-polar husband and father who ditches his medication, struggles with his sanity and loses his job in the process. As he tries to keep it together, his harried wife heads back to work to support the family, but ends up moving out, leaving hubby to deal with the kids.
It sounds like it’ll be painful stuff, and not what you might expect from Maya Forbes, who last wrote DreamWorks’ Monsters Vs Aliens and misfiring Rainn Wilson musical comedy The Rocker. But the scriptwriter – who is looking to use Polar Bear as her directorial debut – also has experience working on The Larry Sanders Show, where comedy and emotional cruelty usually tended to go hand-in-hand.
There’s no studio backing for the film yet, but that shouldn’t be a problem with Abrams championing the film via his Bad Robot company and True Grit co-financier/producer Megan Ellison putting up a chunk of the money to get it made. Either way, Forbes aims to start shooting this September.
Ruffalo will next be seen playing Bruce Banner in The Avengers, while Saldana (who, of course, worked with Abrams on Star Trek), has action pic Colombiana set to release on September 9.