Chris Evans' schedule is rather packed nowadays thanks to his commitments to Marvel Studios and his role as the star-spangled hero Captain America, but in between the upcoming Captain America sequel The Winter Soldier and Joss Whedon's The Avengers: Age of Ultron Evans is taking a break to do something rather surprising: make his directorial debut. Deadline is reporting that the Boston-born actor is prepping to step behind the lens to make 1:30 Train, a romance in the vein of Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise movies.
Based on a script by Ron Bass, who wrote the Oscar winning screenplay for Rain Man as well as Snow Falling on Cedars, Stepmom, My Best Friend's Wedding and many others, the film tells the story of two strangers with extreme conflict in their lives who are drawn together one night in Manhattan. In addition to directing, Evans will also be starring in the movie and serving as a producer, working alongside Mark Kassen, Howard and Karen Baldwin, and Bill Immerman, as well as McG and Mary Viola from Wonderland Sound and Vision. The source doesn't mention any actresses that they are looking at to play the director's romantic interest.
While Evans is contracted for three Captain America solo movies and three Avengers films, he hasn't been completely trapped in stars and stripes these past few months. Instead, he has found plenty of time for a number of wide ranging projects. Since the release of The Avengers last year he starred in the hitman drama The Iceman and he will likely next be seen in Joon-ho Bong apocalyptic drama Snowpiercer, which follows the passengers aboard a train moving through an arctic wasteland that has covered the planet. The actor has also completed production on the Justin Reardon-directed comedy A Many Splintered Thing, which pairs him up with great names like Aubrey Plaza, Michelle Monaghan, Giovanni Ribisi, Like Wilson and his Captain America: The Winter Soldier co-star Anthony Mackie. We haven't seen a trailer for the latter yet, but you can see a preview for the former below.
According to the report, Evans has actually been interested in 1:30 Train for a while now, having previously been attached when a different director was on-board. After working with Wonderland on A Many Splintered Thing he saw an opportunity to revive the script and it appears as though his plan worked. It sounds like this is a film that he is really passionate about, and hopefully that passion will translate to the screen.
The Avengers: Age of Ultron, meanwhile, is expected to have the star back in uniform at the start of next year to get ready for a May 1, 2015 release date.
