After serving up a compelling drama in the Jennifer Aniston-led Cake earlier this year, Cinelou Films is beginning to turn its attention to Cook. Starring Eddie Murphy and Tomorrowland‘s Britt Robertson, the film follows Murphy’s Henry Church — an everyday yet artistic culinary expert who agrees to cook meals for the family of a dying man.
Production is still very much in its nascent stage, but today we’ve been given our first look at the two leading stars via Deadline. It’s not an image to stop the presses by any means, but at least it provides us with an inkling of Murphy and Robertson’s two characters, who will grow closer and closer over the course of fifteen years. The pair will be joined in the drama by Lucy Fry, Xavier Samuel and Christian Madsen.
Speaking to Empire, the film’s producer Mark Canton spoke highly of Cook as a concept, stating that it has the perfect mix of emotion and character-driven drama to win over the hearts, minds and maybe even stomachs of the moviegoing masses.
“It’s a great screenplay. It’s a small story – a true story – of a family and a guy who comes into their lives. You have to come up with either really great big franchise driven movies or little character driven movies. Those are the two businesses to be in. I’m in both. You don’t like to be caught in the middle.”
Directed by Bruce Beresford with a script from Susan McMartin, Cook actually hones inspiration from a true-life experience — specifically, McMartin’s own childhood.
Cook has entered principal photography in Los Angeles with an expected release scheduled for some point in 2015. In the meantime, you can tell us your thoughts on Eddie Murphy’s return to character-driven drama in the comments below.
