Oscar-nominated Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air) has signed on along British character actor Mark Strong to star in communist bank-robber drama Closer To The Moon directed by Romanian helmer Nae Caranfil and produced by Michael Fitzgerald (The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada – no word on whether Tommy Lee Jones is involved).
The story of Closer to the Moon follows Max Rosenthal (Strong) who is a former head of the Bucharest criminal investigation unit that, along with four other prominent Jewish men in the community, pulls off a bank heist by assuring the surrounding crowds that they are only filming a movie. As you might expect they are caught and sentenced to death, but before they receive their punishment the Communist government forces the Jewish quartet up to redo the crime for a propaganda film.
Farmiga will portray Rosenthal’s ex lover and mother of their child who lives in Moscow, but returns to Romania in the midst of the drama. A production start has been set for this autumn, but no release date has been set on it as yet.
Farmiga arise from the long-underrated actress to seemingly appearing in a new movie every month. The Orphan star can be seen next with Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds in Safe House, which is due out February 10, 2012.
Mark Strong is known for playing villains such as Lord Blackwood in Sherlock Holmes or Frank D’Amico in Kick-Ass. Strong was recently sought playing Thaal Sinestro in the 2011 superhero movie, Green Lantern. He will next be seen co-starring along Gary Oldman in feature adaptation of the John le Carré spy novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy which hit theaters on November 18th,
Romanian film director and screenwriter Nae Caranfil is also the helmer behind 2002 Philanthropy, an awarded dark comedy that can be considered a predecessor of Slumdog Millionaire. Closer to the Moon will serve as the English-language debut of the most prominent Romanian filmmaker.
It could be a pretty fascinating feature, don’t you think?
Check out the Philanthropy trailer.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIUNXSwfke4[/youtube]
Trailer Filantropica (2002) Music
