Production on Xavier Dolan’s English-language debut, The Death And Life Of John F. Donovan, has been slated to begin in spring of next year, and the director has been lining the film’s cast list with an impressive array of talent in the interim. At the ripe old age of 26, this is set to be Dolan’s seventh feature film – one that has just recently added True Detective‘s Taylor Kitsch to its burgeoning ensemble.
First picked up by The Wrap, Kitsch will star alongside Jessica Chastain, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates and Game of Thrones‘ Kit Harrington for the drama, telling the tale of a prestigious Hollywood talent who struggles to keep his reputation in check when a series of allegations question his relationship with an 11-year-old actor. While the studio nor The Wrap disclosed any information regarding Kitsch’s new-fangled role, it is one that’s described as “unique.” Chastain, on the other hand, assumes the role of the lead editor of a gossip rag, one which will surely be involved in the defamation of Harrington’s title lead.
Beyond that, there’s not much more we can deduce from The Death And Life Of John F. Donovan. What we do know is that, following the back-to-back, career-damaging flops of Battleship and John Carter, Taylor Kitsch is beginning to steer his fortunes in the right direction, appearing in dramas such as Lone Survivor and HBO’s The Lone Heart, not to mention his core role in the sophomore season of True Detective.
Xavier Dolan’s The Death And Life Of John F. Donovan is yet to nail down a concrete release date, though with production now on course to get underway early next year, we expect that the drama will make its bow in late 2016.
