We were all pretty disappointed when J.C. Chandor, the terrifically talented helmer behind last December’s A Most Violent Year, fell off oil rig explosion drama Deepwater Horizon, but it appears that the director may have settled on a new project. Reteaming with A24, he’s producing and has plans to direct an adaptation of Vicky Ward’s book The Liar’s Ball, about the history of New York’s famed G.M. building.
Neal Dodson and Anna Gerb, both long-time collaborators of Chandor’s, are also producing the pic, which focuses on the furious battle between industry titans over the coveted area, which faces the southeast corner of Central Park. The script, which will be written by Manhattan and The Newsroom scribe Gideon Yago, heavily features Harry Macklowe and explores his fight to own and redevelop the G.M. Building over the last two decades. Apple’s famous glass cube building came out of that struggle, though Macklowe ultimately lost the G.M. Building.
Chandor released an official statement, saying:
“Commercial real estate in New York City has long fascinated me, to the point where I once had a broker’s license. The story that Vicky has captured through relentless research and interviews explores the drama and the romantic nature of buildings in a city that has continued to push closer and closer to the sky with each passing year.”
It’s certainly an unusual subject for a film, but Chandor has hardly played it safe with his previous directorial ventures. Margin Call took place over a 36-hour period as employees at a large Wall Street investment bank grappling with their knowledge of the impending 2007-08 financial crisis, while All Is Lost told the near-silent story of a single man (Robert Redford) alone in a struggle to survive at sea. His last film, A Most Violent Year, was perhaps his most mainstream yet, but it still defied expectations by not turning into a generic action-thriller and instead telling the highly dramatic story of one immigrant’s struggle to remain virtuous and pure in an industry polluted with corruption and crime.
We’ll bring you more on The Liar’s Ball as we have it.
