It’s always exciting following a young director fresh off a series of hits. Forty-one year old filmmaker J.C. Chandor fits such a bill, having lensed three of the strongest dramas over the past half decade, what with 2011’s Margin Call, 2013’s All Is Lost, and last year’s A Most Violent Year. Each film pit strong characters against even stronger odds, and it would appear that Chandor’s sticking to those vested interests of his with his next film, The Liar’s Ball.
As Variety reports, Chandor will direct Gideon Yago’s screenplay adaptation of Vicky Ward’s 2014 non-fiction novel of the same name. The story follows real estate developer and investor Harry Macklowe’s infamous bid for Manhattan’s iconic GM building. Ward, a former editor for Vanity Fair, worked with over 200 interviews, ranging from Donald Trump to Samuel Zell, Mort Zuckerman to Trump himself.
“Commercial real estate in New York City has long fascinated me, to the point where I once had a broker’s license,” Chandor explains in a press release. “The story that Vicky has captured through relentless research and interviews explores the drama and the romantic nature of buildings in a city that has continued to push closer and closer to the sky with each passing year.”
“When I heard J.C. wanted to turn my book into a movie I couldn’t believe it,” Ward adds. “I always try – as far as journalistic license allows – to condense time and space in my work the way he does, so that in the foreground, you have larger-than-life characters thrashing about in extremes and the reader has no choice but to get inside their headspace and see things from their perspective. …A Most Violent Year was a perfect example of that. So I am just thrilled that they want to take on the clash of brutal, battling egos that comprises the fractious, ruthless, scarcely believable world of New York Real Estate.”
A24 will produce and distribute the film alongside producers Neal Dodson, Anna Gerb, Eva Maria Daniels, and actor and Margin Call star Zachary Quinto, who will serve as executive producer.
May we suggest Harvey Keitel for the lead?
