Six years had elapsed since her last film before Lisa Cholodenko released The Kids Are All Right, and it wasn't because she was creatively blocked or taking some time off. Cholodenko faced the hurdles and endless delays familiar to any independent filmmaker who wants their voice heard, and even when Kids was finally made, it was on a smaller budget and schedule than she wanted. Now that Kids is an Oscar nominee and a bona fide hit, though, Cholodenko has the visibility to take on a job with an actual guaranteed pay check and studio support; after years toiling in the indie mines, you absolutely can't blame her for cashing in now.
And actually, her move over to a big studio might not wind up being dumb and soul-sucking at all. According to Variety she's in talks to direct Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, an adaptation of the children's book published by Judith Viorst in 1972 that has been a staple of many childhoods in the decades since, including my own. If memory serves Fox has been attempting to make the movie based on the book for years now, but apparently Alexander isn't the only one facing a bunch of hurdles in this case. Given that there are two other Alexander books in the series Variety speculates that this could be a hit like the studio's own Diary of a Wimpy Kid franchise, but of course there a lot of chickens to be counted before that hatches.
Shawn Levy, king of the children's movie after Night at the Museum, will produce through his 21 Laps, alongside the Jim Henson Company if you can believe it. If this works out well-- and with a director as talented as Cholodenko, why wouldn't it?-- it might be one of those efforts that nostalgic adults and kids alike can enjoy.
