Kirsten Dunst’s Directorial Debut The Bell Jar Recruits Fargo Star Jesse Plemons

Sound the Fargo reunion klaxon! For The Hollywood Reporter brings word that Jesse Plemons – star of Breaking Bad, Bridge of Spies and Black Mass – will reteam with actor/director and real-life girlfriend Kirsten Dunst for The Bell Jar, a new spin on Sylvia Plath’s literary classic of ’63.

There, Plemons will join Dakota Fanning, who landed the lead role of Esther Greenwood during the summer months. Meanwhile, Lenny Shepherd is the name of Plemons’ character, and we understand that production is expected to kick into gear early next year.

Acting as the directorial debut of Kirsten Dunst, there are precious few story details available for this new interpretation of The Bell Jar. That being said, we’re inclined to believed Dunst will remain fairly faithful to Plath’s novel, as opposed to churning out a modern redo of Larry Peerce’s own film adaptation from 1979.

What we do know for sure is that Dunst will co-write the script with Nellie Kim, and this project marks the actress’ first shot at helming a full-blown feature film after cranking out two eye-catching shorts in the form of Welcome (Winona Ryder, John Hawkes) and Bastard (Brian Geraghty, Lukas Haas). Lizzie Friedman is on board to produce alongside Fanning and Brittany Kahan on behalf of Echo Lake Entertainment.

Beyond The Bell Jar, Jesse Plemons has a busy 2017 ahead of him. He’s part of the entourage of stars Scott Cooper has assembled for Hostiles, a period Western drama about an ailing Cheyenne chief. American Made and The Discovery are two projects that are also lining the actor’s slate.