Earlier this year, writer-director Craig Zobel shook up Sundance with his disturbing drama Compliance, which was based on a shocking true story about a young woman being abused at the hands of her employer at a fast food restaurant because of a call from someone claiming to be a police officer. With his film set to begin its theatrical release Friday, this buzzed about filmmaker is scoring new headlines by committing to another new film Z is for Zachariah, once again about a young woman in an impossible situation.
Variety reports Zobel will helm an adaptation of Robert C. O'Brien's science fiction novel that centers on a 16-year-old girl named Anna, who believes she's the only survivor of a gruesome nuclear war. Living in a valley untouched by the devastation, she manages a small farm and so is able to survive. But one day, her solitude is broken and safety threatened when a man emerges from the forest. Fearful but deeply lonely Ann approaches and discovers he is John R. Loomis, a Cornell University chemist who designed a safe suit that enabled him to survive the toxic effects of radiation that plague planet. The adapted screenplay by Nissar Modi earned a coveted spot on the 2009 Black List, a collection of the most buzzed-about unproduced screenplays circulating in Hollywood. Considering his attraction to the darker side of humanity, Zobel seems a shrewd pick for the material.
Tobey Maguire is currently attached to play Loomis, but there's no word yet on who will take on the role of the scrappy Anna. Maguire will also produce the pic alongside his Material Pictures partner Matthew Plouffe and Hunger Games' helmer Gary Ross. While financing for Z is for Zachariah is lined up, audiences will be able to see Maguire in Baz Lurhman's flashy adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby as well as the long-delayed Weinstein Company release The Details, a dark comedy where the Spider-Man star appears opposite top-notch comedienne Elizabeth Banks.
