Perhaps one of the biggest surprises of this year’s awards circuit is just how many awards and nominations filmmaker J.C. Chandor has picked for his debut film, Margin Call. Chandor’s star-packed film debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and while that festival also featured a notable debut from Sean Durkin with his Martha Marcy May Marlene, one that seemed much more poised to rack up the awards, it has been Chandor and his tale of the Wall St. financial crisis that has earned some big accolades. Chandor has already picked up Best Debut Director from the National Board of Review, Best First Film from the New York Film Critics Circle, and Best Original Screenplay from the San Francisco Film Critics Circle, along with nominations from the Boston Society of Film Critics and the Film Independent Spirit Awards, and that’s likely only the beginning for Chandor and his Margin Call.
So with so much promise and so much praise, it’s high time that Chandor unveiled his next project, one that apparently owes its own type of debt to Sundance. Chandor’s next is titled All Is Lost, and the filmmaker is looking to cast Robert Redford as its lead. Let’s hope that works out, as Chandor reportedly Chandor met Sundance founder Redford “at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, and was so taken by him that he wrote the movie around him.”
The film is described as a “man vs. nature drama that takes place on the water.” Redford is in talks for the lead role as ” a heroic character who braves the elements to survive.” And, damn if that title doesn’t sound good and bleak. The production has already started scouting filming locations for all those water shoots, including a look at Baja Film Studios in Mexico, where films like Titanic and Pearl Harbor have been shot.
With a role seemingly tailor-made for him, and production slated to start in the spring, I think it’s fair to expect that Redford will sign on the dotted line for this one quite quickly. [Deadline Holladay]