A major shake-up on this one. Scott Cooper is still directing a remake of “Time Out,” but his original lead, Christian Bale, has dropped out, and now Adam Sandler is taking over.
Sandler is coming off his supporting turn in Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly,” which earned him good reviews, and the streaming success of “Happy Gilmore 2.” He has proven multiple times in his career that he can be a strong actor. His work in “Punch-Drunk Love,” “Uncut Gems,” “The Meyerowitz Stories,” and “Hustle” is proof enough of that. He recently stated, “I will make at least 50 more movies before I am dead — and at least 25 of them will be good.” Cooper’s film is supposed to be one of the good ones.
“Time Out” is a remake of Laurent Cantet’s great 2001 film “L’Emploi du Temps,” and Netflix is producing. The film is set to start production on April 1 in Vancouver.
“Time Out” was Cantet’s best film—yes, even superior to his Palme d’Or–winning “The Class”—and it tackles the story of an unemployed man whose life sinks further and further into trouble as he hides his situation from his family and friends.
It makes sense for Sandler and Cooper to team up for a Netflix movie — they’ve both previously partnered with the streamer, especially Sandler, who is signed up for an exclusive deal that guarantees him multiple projects, giving him creative freedom and a steady platform for his work.
Cooper also has two other projects in development, including the recently announced “Roswell” and “Comanche,” based on an Eric Roth script that Michael Mann was originally set to direct before personally bestowing directing duties on Cooper.
Cooper is coming off this past year’s “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,” which has seen its Oscar hopes deflate in recent weeks. His other directing credits include “Crazy Heart,” “Black Mass,” “Hostiles,” “Out of the Furnace,” and “The Pale Blue Eye.”
Callum Turner has stepped down as a director of Twentytwo Films, the production company he launched last August, and the British tabloids are already reading it as a sign he's clearing the decks for James Bond.