I wasn’t sure about the status of Solondz’s next project, “Love Child,” starring Elizabeth Olsen, and earlier in the year we had learned about a potential shoot in the summer that clearly hadn’t materialized. What gives?
It turns out that Solondz was all prepared to board a plane and shoot it in Spain, just a mere “weeks away”, and then “the plan collapsed.” The clearly frustrated filmmaker adds that if he doesn’t get to make “Love Child” then he will “never make another movie” again (via The New Yorker).
“The producers are still scrounging, and they seem very determined. So I have to remain hopeful that this will happen,” he continued.
“My predicament of continuing to write scripts and never getting a movie made — it’s very funny to me,” Solondz tells The New Yorker. “Seeing myself get all excited and hopeful — and then very sad at the same time, cause nothing happens. It’s like I’m living a movie of my own making!”
“Love Child” tackles a “precocious, conniving 11-year-old named Junior, who wants to be on Broadway and is maniacally obsessed with his mother.” It’s been in development for almost 10 years now, and the cast keeps changing; at some point, Penelope Cruz was set to star in the Olsen role.
In a recent interview with RTL, Solondz stated he left his teaching gig at New York University to make this film, adding that it would be his “most audience friendly” and “commercial” film.
“Love Child” was supposed to be Solondz’ first film since 2016’s “Wiener-Dog.” In fact, he’s only helmed six films in his three-decade spanning career.
As it stands, his best films are still his first three: 1996’s “Welcome to the Dollhouse,” 1998’s “Happiness” and 2001’s “Storytelling.” They were darkly twisted satires on modern American life that defied the boundaries of socially acceptable behavior.
Criterion's December lineup has some great additions to the library, but the title that jumped out at me is Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man," which officially joins the Collection on December 8.