Coming off last year’s “Armageddon Time,” James Gray is currently prepping his next project — a film about John F. Kennedy’s youthful days as a Navy commander during World War II.
Daniel Richtman is reporting that Bill Skarsgård is attached to play the young JFK. No other details were revealed, but I would imagine that this one might start production soon.
The upcoming film, titled “Mayday,” focuses on JFK’s evolution into a war hero and the turbulent relationship he had with his father. Gray rewrote the script, which had been originally penned by Samuel Franco and Evan Kilgore.
Gray is a filmmaker with passionate supporters, and just as many detractors. The 53-year-old director has the kind of classicist filmmaking style that the mainstream might deem “too boring.” However, critics, especially the French, absolutely love him and that’s why he’s become a Cannes regular.
The Queens-born filmmaker has never really had a breakout hit. His films seem to come and go, but his passionate, albeit cultish, fanbase has been the reason for his lengthy career and constantly greenlit projects.
When Gray does hit the mark (“Two Lovers,” “Lost City of Z,” “Armageddon Time”), a mysterious beauty is achieved, the kind of cinematic bliss that reminds us why we love the movies so much. Then again, I find he’s also had several misses over his three-decade career.
Gray makes movies plucked out of time. Watching something like “Two Lovers” or “We Own the Night” is like going back to a time when classicist filmmaking was the norm. His detractors will tell you that he’s stuck in the past. I find his best work is often deeply moving despite their melodramatic tones; there’s something intellectual and formalist about them.