Director David O. Russell has signed on to direct the romantic comedy Aaron and Sarah for Fox 2000.
The story centers on a nerdy guy and a popular girl who meet as freshmen and, over four years of high school, four proms and one funeral, become friends and eventually fall in love. Husband-wife team Chad Gomez Creasey and Dara Resnik Creasey wrote the screenplay.
The film, which is described as similar in vein to the John Hughes’ teen comedies of the 80’s, is a departure for Russell, who typically deals with modern existential angst (I ‘Heart’ Huckabees, Flirting With Disaster) and politics (Three Kings and the upcoming Nailed). Last month, Russell was attached to direct The Silver Linings Playbook: A Novel for the Weinstein Co. He is also adapting the screenplay, which is based on Matthew Quick’s debut novel.
Russell is a director renowned for his volatile behavior on set and his infamous arguments with actors. One between he and Lily Tomlin can be found on youtube and there was news from the set of Nailed that James Caan walked from the film due to differences with the director. It will be interesting to see how this plays in a supposedly lighthearted film such as Aaron.
This is also very quick turnaround for Russell as he usually takes a couple years to get a new project started.
source: Variety
