Thanks to the colossal success of Dallas Buyers Club, director Jean-Marc Vallée is now one of the hottest helmers in Hollywood. And with another potential awards contender lined up this fall in the form of Reese Witherspoon starrer Wild, there’s no indication that his name will be fading from memory any time soon. Now he’s putting together his next project, a redemption tale titled Demolition, and has snagged Prisoners star Jake Gyllenhaal for the lead role.
Vallée’s involvement alone would be enough to pique our interest, but Demolition also boasts a Black List script from Bryan Snipe. The film centers on “a young investment banker struggling to understand his emotional disconnect after the tragic death of his wife. He begins to tear apart his life in a distraught effort to see where he went wrong, but ultimately is rescued by a woman he meets in a chance encounter.” It sounds like a highly emotional, deeply human story, which is exactly the kind that Vallée excels at telling.
Speaking with Deadline about Demolition earlier this year, the director said the following:
“Demolition is such a powerful and touching story, written with a strong and sincere desire to try to understand the human psyche, what makes us so unique, so special, what makes us love. This is a script of a rare quality, of a beautiful humanity.”
Vallée made one of the most stirring films about the AIDS epidemic that I’ve seen, so it will be an absolute pleasure to see him take on another project about the resilience and complexities of the human condition. That Gyllenhaal, one of the most quietly intense and emotive actors working today (check out his stunning performances in Brokeback Mountain and Enemy if you don’t believe me), is on board as well, just makes us more excited for this movie.
No word yet on a release date for Demolition, but more news about the film is certainly coming soon.