Alec Baldwin and Kristen Stewart’s careers have followed similar trajectories in recent years, but in different directions. Baldwin’s reemergence as a comic actor soured once his personality also emerged. The abject hatred for Stewart’s performances in the Twilight franchise (and other things) also dissipated, and she didn’t end up a drug-abusing psycho in the process. These two stars have confirmed they’re putting their seat-packing powers together with Kate Bosworth for the Memento Films International indie drama Still Alice, based on the bestselling 2007 novel by Lisa Genova. It won’t feature any shiny vampires or people railing on Twitter, so it sounds great already.
According to TheWrap, this will be the next feature from The Last of Robin Hood directors Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, the latter of whom started his career making gay adult films before teaming up with Glatzer for their next three films. No screenwriter was named and no one is listed on IMDb, but perhaps they’ll fill that role after the project is shopped around the European Film Market next month. Many international companies bought up rights to the project at last year’s American Film Market, based on the previously announced involvement of Oscar-nominated actress Julianne Moore.
In the film, Moore will play Alice Howland, a happy and successful professor of neuroscience who is understandably troubled when she’s diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Stewart will play her youngest daughter, who is finally able to develop a real relationship that wasn’t available before. Though not directly stated, it’s not treading limbs to assume Baldwin will play her supportive husband, and that Bosworth will play another daughter. This kind of a mentally challenging role could be easy critic bait if Moore plays it to her strengths, but something tells me watching her lose her mind is going to get increasingly cringe-worthy and depressing.
Baldwin, just off of a douchebaggy turn in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine, already played a love interest of Moore’s on 30 Rock, so it wouldn’t be out of the question if they went that way. He recently wrapped production for Cameron Crowe’s untitled next project, and will star in Wayne Kramer’s next thriller Caught Stealing, while Bosworth, who was in last year’s Homefront is currently filming Mike Flanagan’s orphan horror Somnia.
Stewart arguably has the most interesting upcoming slate, including the Guantanamo Bay drama Camp X-Ray that recently premiered to good reviews at Sundance. Next, she’s got the Olivier Assayas’ drama Sils Maria and Tim Blake Nelson’s intersecting narrative drama Anesthesia, and should begin filming soon on the action comedy American Ultra, where she’ll reteam with Adventureland co-star Jesse Eisenberg.
I don’t expect we’ll see this film come out before the winter, if it comes out this year at all. For a closer look at the novel’s story, check out the video below, in which author Genova discusses how her occupation as a neuroscientist informed the story.
