A bevy of major stars have just entered into talks for Spotlight, a film focusing on the sex abuse scandals that have plagued the Catholic Church. Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, and Stanley Tucci are all in “advanced talks” for parts in the project, which is to be directed by Win Win helmer Thomas McCarthy.
Spotlight focuses on the Boston Globe’s “Spotlight” team, who spent a year interviewing victims to uncover multiple cover-ups by the Catholic Church. Their work resulted in the eventual resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law, as well as the revelation of dozens of sex abuse scandals involving priests – ones that continue to plague the Catholic Church today. The Globe team eventually won the Pulitzer Prize in 2003 for their coverage. Ruffalo and McAdams are in talks to play the reporters in Spotlight, but it is not yet clear which parts Keaton and Tucci will be taking over.
Given the ongoing nature of these scandals, I’m somewhat surprised that it has taken this long for a film directly concerned with sex abuse in the Catholic Church to get going. There have been any number of movie that have vaguely hinted at molestation and the cover-ups that go along with them, but few that have directly addressed the issues at hand. Hopefully Spotlight will be treated with intelligence and tact, as it is sure to be a controversial subject with continued resonance today.
We can also place a lot of hope in this cast, of course. I’d be willing to head out to see the film just on the strength of Ruffalo, Keaton, McAdams, and Tucci alone.
There’s no word yet on when Spotlight will see the light of day, but it already has a US distributor with Open Road. A studio has been a bit harder to come by, with DreamWorks exiting the picture last year. Financing in in place, though, and with the cast that’s shaping up, the film should have no problem getting off the ground.
