Charlie Kaufman, the brilliant screenwriter behind such masterpieces as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Adaptation, has signed Nicolas Cage, Jack Black and Steve Carell to his next film, Frank or Francis. The film is about “a volatile back and forth between a film director (Frank) and an online blogger (Francis), who takes delight in berating his cinematic talent.” Kaufman will be both writing and directing Frank or Francis, just like he did with Synecdoche, New York in 2008.
Frank or Francis seems to be a little bit more comical and maybe not as complicated as the director’s last film, Synecdoche, New York. The talent involved is at the same high standard that we’ve seen for most of Kaufman’s films, if not slightly more mainstream and so far, the title seems promising.
Hopefully, Frank or Francis will be a hit for Kaufman and make a bit more cash than Synecdoche, New York did. Although, being a Kaufman film, it’s going to be hard to generate any significant cash due to the lack of mainstream appeal.
However, the lingering question remains; will two of these actors be playing Frank and Francis? If so, I feel like the snarky blogger has to be Black or Cage, since Carell usually plays nice guys. But who knows, we could see either of the three actors in the role.
Also, I’m excited to see Cage working with Kaufman again. The actor did great things with Kaufman’s script in Adaptation and I’m hoping he can do the same here. It will also be intriguing to see what Kaufman does with such typical comedic actors as Steve Carell and Jack Black. Will they factor well into Kaufman’s universe?
Let us know what you think.
