hugh_jackman_71441.jpg

Hugh Jackman and Rooney Mara have only just finished working together on Pan, but it’s safe to assume that they got on famously during the production because they’ve decided to re-team for an upcoming drama that involves one of the hottest directors in Tinseltown.

According to Variety, Jackman and Mara have signed on the dotted line for Collateral Beauty, which will be overseen by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, the director behind the Sundance hit Me And Earl And The Dying Girl. Details regarding the drama’s plot are still at a premium, but from what we do know it sounds like it’s going to be rather weighty. Jackman is expected to take the lead as the employee at a New York ad agency whose life is turned upside down after he experiences a tragedy that spirals him into a deep depression. Intense stuff.

But before people immediately assume that Collateral Beauty is set to blossom into a bona-fide awards contender, it should also be noted that the drama doesn’t have either a financier or distributor lined up yet. However the attachment of Hugh Jackman and Rooney Mara is set to right this wrong imminently, while studios have been knocking at Alfonso Gomez-Rejon's door ever since he wowed Sundance with his sophomore feature.

Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s debut film, 2014’s The Town That Dreaded Sundown, was also met with critical praise, however that pales in comparison to the fact that Me And Earl And The Dying Girl was awarded both the grand prize and audience award at Sundance earlier this year. Various projects have since been flung his way, but Gomez-Rejon is believed to have instantly become smitten with this screenplay, and he's now convinced that this is the right project to propel his career forward.

The script for Collateral Beauty has been written by Allan Loeb, whose career has been a mishmash of intriguing mainstream efforts and horrendous comedies. The likes of 21, Things We Lost In The Fire, and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (plus, fingers crossed, the upcoming San Andreas) deserve mad props, however the likes of The Dilemma, Here Comes The Boom, So Undercover, and The Switch deserve to be locked away in a vault, set on fire, and never viewed again. Maybe rewatching these efforts and seeing what had become of his talents is what inspired the depressing plot for Collateral Beauty.

It sounds as if Loeb has recognised the error of his ways with Collateral Beauty though, as it’s clearly earned the attention of some pretty big Hollywood figures. You can see what all the fuss is about when Me And Earl And The Dying Girl is released on June 12, 2015, while Rooney Mara and Hugh Jackman’s Pan is due out later this year on 9 October, 2015.