Jason Schwartzman is coming back to television.
The film star, who was once the lead in a short-lived Fox show “Cracking Up,” has signed on for HBO’s new comedy, “Bored to Death.”
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Schwartzman will play “a struggling thirty something writer with a drinking problem in Brooklyn who, following a painful breakup with his girlfriend, decides to emulate his heroes from the novels of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. He takes out an ad pretending to be a private detective and starts taking cases — solving some and making others worse.”
Production will begin in September. Until then, Schwartzman is busy filming “The Fantastic Mr. Fox,” directed by Wes Anderson.
Before you rush to theatres next weekend to see Wes Anderson’s fifth feature film, The Darjeeling Limited, be sure to watch the short film that precedes the story.
The 13-minute short entitled Hotel Chevalier stars Jason Schwartzman (one of the Darjeeling leads) and Natalie Portman. It was made a year before filming of Darjeeling even began. Originally intended to stand alone as a short film, Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums) realized that Schwartzman’s character was perfect for the feature film he was envisioning.
Portman appears nude in the short, and has a tiny cameo in Darjeeling. Though it is not necessary to see the short to understand her relationship with Schwartzman?s character in the full-length film, Anderson says Chevalier does flesh out the story.
“My ideal thing would be to have the audience member come over to my apartment and watch the short on my computer and the next day they’d watch the movie in the theater,” he told the Wall Street Journal.
Hotel Chevalier premieres tonight at Apple stores in selected American cities, but will be available starting tomorrow as a free download on iTunes.
Filmmaker Wes Anderson will head to India at the end of this year to begin shooting his next film, “The Darjeeling Limited.”
Reuters reports that the movie, which is being supported by Fox Searchlight studios, will star Anderson regulars Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman, along with Adrien Brody.
The actors will play a set of brothers who take a spiritual trek through India following the death of their father.
The screenplay for the film was written by Anderson, Schwartzman, and Roman Coppola.
Wilson wasn’t involved with the writing this time, though he did co-write the screenplays for three of Anderson’s prior films, “The Royal Tenenbaums,” “Rushmore,” and “Bottle Rocket.”
Wilson also starred in the director’s latest work, “The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou.”
