Ryan Reynolds & Reese Witherspoon To Star in Big Eyes

Deadline say Ryan Reynolds and Reese Witherspoon will star in Big Eyes, a long-gestating indie drama that biopic specialists Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (Ed Wood, The People vs Larry Flynt, Man On The Moon) wrote years ago but has lately been stuck in development hell. The film explores the relationship between innovative painter Margaret Keane and her talentless husband Walter in the 50's and 60's, the latter who actually took all the credit for his wife€™s paintings which took the art world by storm and became mass market sensations. Walter was a marketing wizard and talked up 'his paintings' on TV talk shows and he lived on the luxuries and fame that they brought him. The reason Margaret let this go on was because she had self image problems, and was quite happy to hide away out of the spotlight whilst Walter lauded it up. Spoilers ahead (Scroll over to read Invisible text!)

Of course as the paintings became more and more popular, a rift started to form in their marriage and it eventually tore them apart. Margaret some time later would become a Jevovah€™s witness and would actually come out with the truth that she was the one who drew the paintings.In a climax fitting of a film, the 1965 court case to find out who the works actually belonged to ended with a showdown, where the Judge asked both Margaret and Walter to paint, but of course Walter refused claiming a shoulder injury. She won the case.

Below is an example of Keane€™s work, which are instantly recognisable for their children with big distinctive eyes (hence the title of the film)€ At one point Thomas Haden Church was to play Walter and Kate Hudson as Margaret but considering the film has been in the works almost as long as WhatCulture has existed (since 2006), it really is no surprise to see a different cast attached at this point. After laying dormant for a while, Tim Burton boarded as producer in 2010, likely as a favour to the writers who scribed his Ed Wood and are currently writing a new Addams Family movie for him, but he has no interest in directing. Writers Alexander & Karaszweski will helm what will be their second directorial effort after the forgettable 2000 film Screwed. Lynette Howell and Jamie Patricof who produced Blue Valentine are also involved. The film is setup at their Electric City Entertainment. Alexander & Karaszweski said;

€œWe are ecstatic to have this dream cast for our dream project. Walter is a larger-than-life antihero €” charming, funny, dangerous, and a little crazy. Ryan will knock it out of the park. As for Reese, she will be perfect as Margaret €” soulful, decent, transforming from vulnerability to learning to fight for herself.€

We hear filming is expected in the Spring, so finally it looks like this one is going to get made.