Oscar Outlook 2012: Ruby Sparks

Remember Little Miss Sunshine?  That movie debuted at Sundance SIX years ago!  Nominated for four Oscars (winning two), the movie made bank at the box-office.  Directing team Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton are finally back with a new project: Ruby Sparks (formerly known as He Loves Me).  This is actress Zoe Kazan's first screenplay, which she wrote the title role for herself.  The story concerns a novelist (Paul Dano) suffering from writer's block who becomes inspired when he writes the girl of his dreams and she suddenly comes to life.  The supporting cast includes Antonio Banderas, Annette Bening, Paul Dano, Steve Coogan, Elliott Gould and Alia Shawkat.

Cinematographer Matthew Libatique made a splash last year with his nominated camerawork in Black Swan.  Not only has he been Darren Aronofsky's right-hand cameraman since his film short days, but he's a favorite of Spike Lee, Jon Favreau, and Joel Schumacher.  Production designer Judy Becker's credits include Brokeback Mountain, I'm Not There., The Fighter, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Shame and the infamously unreleased Nailed.  She not only worked on the upcoming HBO pilot Girls, but she has The Silver Linings Playbook under her belt and is signed on for Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of 'Psycho', with Ruby's art director Alexander Wei.  Set Decorator Matthew Flood Ferguson (Running with Scissors, Happy Endings) will be spending his time on the upcoming Beautiful Creatures.  Since working on Little Miss Sunshine, costume designer Nancy Steiner has been busy with the TV show Enlightened and Arthur Newman, Golf Pro.  Producers include Albert Berger (Election, Cold Mountain, Little Miss Sunshine), Ron Yerxa (Cold Mountain, Little Miss Sunshine, Little Children), and Bart Lipton (Little Miss Sunshine).

While we'll have to wait and see about the film's acting prospects, if it makes enough money and touches enough hearts, it could see some screenplay traction.  Filmed last Summer, Fox Searchlight Pictures will begin a limited engagement on the 25th of July.  And, I could have sworn it was supposed to debut like its predesessor at Sundance.  [5/21 Editor Note: As the marketing team is slowly trying to build interest for the film, their approach has been pretty understated thus far.  I commend them for trying to be creative with the movie poster.  However, as much as they felt they had to go with the traditional "white space" to convey "the page," aesthetically, it's rarely used these days for good reason, especially when trying to be innovative.  And, for the life of me, if you have Annette Bening in your film, why aren't you MAKING A BIGGER DEAL ABOUT IT?  Perhaps her role is a cameo?  Still, the low numbers this post generated compared to other movies of its ilk, suggest that maybe this film is just a non-event?]

Also on the Radar:

Anna Karenina     Argo     Beasts of the Southern Wild     The Bourne Legacy     The Dark Knight Rises     Dark Shadows     Django Unchained     Gangster Squad     Great Expectations     The Great Gatsby     The Hobbit     Hope Springs     The Hunger Games     Hyde Park on the Hudson     Lawless     Lincoln     Lola Versus     Lovelace     Low Life     Magic Mike     The Master     Les Misérables     Life of Pi     Moonrise Kingdom     People Like Us     Prometheus     To Rome with Love     Ruby Sparks     Savages     Seeking a Friend for the End of the World     The Silver Linings Playbook     Smashed     The Surrogate     Trouble with the Curve     Won't Back Down 


The Avengers     The Amazing Spider-Man     Men in Black III