Jonah Hill will start shooting his directorial debut, skateboarding drama Mid-90s, in February from a script he penned.
The 32-year-old’s project, which he likened to Larry Clark’s cult classic Kids and Shane Meadow’s sensational This is England, will also be produced by Hollywood mega-producer Scott Rudin (No Country For Old Men) and critically acclaimed director Bennett Miller (Capote, Moneyball, Foxcatcher).
While promoting his new comedy War Dogs, the Superbad star spoke to Collider about Mid-90s, which he says is set in Los Angeles.
He said: “It’s sort of like a coming-of-age drama—it’s the most boring elevator pitch in the world, but it takes place in a skateboarding scene in the mid-90s in L.A.
“Skateboarding’s always been put on screen as a joke or an 80s cowabunga kind of trope, and it’s more in the tone of Kids or This Is England. Those are kind of the movies that I’m influenced by the most.”
Hill declined to talk about who has been cast in the film or whether he will star himself. The actor has worked with some of the best filmmakers in the business, including Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino, and has served as executive producer on both Jump Street movies as well as the raunchy animated comedy Sausage Party.
Scott Rudin has helped produce some of the best American movies of the last 20 years, including work by Wes Anderson, David Fincher and the Coen Brothers, to name but a few, while Bennett Miller, who steered Hill to an Oscar nomination in the Aaron Sorkin scripted Moneyball, is one of the most sophisticated directors working in cinema today. For the comedic actor to have the professional backing of Miller and Rudin speaks volumes for the quality of his screenplay.
Stay tuned for casting news on Jonah Hills’ Mid-90s, with the February start date drawing closer.
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