After stunning audiences and critics alike with his gripping, grotesque performance in Foxcatcher, Steve Carell is taking on another dramatic project that will move the Office actor further from his comic roots. Carell will star in Robert Zemeckis’ Marwencol, a feature adaptation of the 2010 Jeff Malmberg documentary.
When Zemeckis was first mentioned in association with the project back in 2013, he and Universal were said to be eyeing Leonardo DiCaprio for the lead role, and though that evidently didn’t pan out, Carell has been making dramatic waves of his own in recent years.
The actor will star as Mark Hogancamp, who is assaulted and left with severe amnesia, unable to remember his life prior to the attack. Searching for meaning, he begins to construct an elaborate, miniature model of a World War II-era Belgian village called Marwencol. Becoming invested in the stories of the little dolls he places in Marwencol, Hogancamp begins a rocky road to recovery.
Seeing as Zemeckis, the visually gifted director behind Flight and the upcoming Philippe Petit drama The Walk, is at the helm, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the narrative with blend scenes from Hogancamp’s life with scenes set in Marwencol as the war rages around the town’s residents.
Malmberg will executive-produce the film along with Zemeckis, who is working from a script by Caroline Thompson (Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas). It will likely be Zemeckis’ next directorial venture after The Walk, which he is currently putting finishing touches on for a planned October 2nd bow this fall.
As for Carell, he’ll co-star with Julianne Moore and Ellen Page in romantic drama Freeheld then star in Ryan Gosling drama The Big Short before going ahead with Marwencol. Also on his schedule: comedy Acme, which will reteam him with Crazy, Stupid, Love directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa.
