In 2009, Greg Mottola’s 80s-set comedy-drama Adventureland saw the pairing of a young, relatively unknown Jesse Eisenberg, with a young, newly-recognizable Kristen Stewart. While she was learning to navigate the adulation wave of Twilight, which had been released the previous year, Adventureland would prove to be Eisenberg’s break-out role.
Well, what a difference four years makes. While Kristen Stewart has waved goodbye to Twilight’s Bella Swan, attempting to mix big budget (Snow White And The Huntsman) with independents (On The Road, The Runaways). Jesse Eisenberg, on the other hand, has been strengthening his dramatic chops on films such as Zombieland, The Social Network, Now You See Me and the current festival favourite, The Double. And now, with experience under their belts and box office success to their names, Eisenberg and Stewart are to reunite for another adventure, in the shape of an action-comedy: American Ultra.
With British director Nima Nourizadeh (Project X) behind the camera, shooting a script by Max Landis (Chronicle), this project already packs a punch. The story, which will apparently see Eisenberg and Stewart make a return to their Adventureland ‘stoner’ status, focuses on Mike and his girlfriend Phoebe, who are compelled to become fugitives from the government when an unfortunate event from his past comes back to haunt him.
As production is not set to begin until April 2014, it will be some time before we find out exactly what that ‘unfortunate event’ entails. Nevertheless, the pedigree of talent attached to American Ultra suggests that, whatever it is, it will certainly be entertaining.
