Fisher Stevens has signed on to direct the drama ‘American Pastoral’ for Lakeshore Entertainment and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment. The film, which is based on Philip Roth’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel of the same name, was written by ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ screenwriter John Romano.
‘American Pastoral’ tells the story of the destruction of the American dream. Protagonist Seymour “Swede” Levov, a legendary high school athlete, marries a former beauty queen and inherits his father’s business after finishing school. His seemingly perfect life is threatened when his daughter rebels. She becomes a revolutionary and commits a savage act of political terrorism during the Vietnam War.
The book ‘American Pastoral’ is the first novel in Roth’s American postwar trilogy. The series also includes ‘I Married a Communist’ and ‘The Human Stain,’ which was released as a film in 2003. ‘American Pastoral’ is the third collaboration between Lakeshore Entertainment and Roth, the first being ‘The Human Stain’ and the second being ‘Elegy,’ which was based on ‘The Dying Animal,’ in 2008.
Principal photography on ‘American Pastoral’ will begin early next year. Lakeshore Entertainment’s Tom Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi will produce the film with Sidney Kimmel.
Stevens is currently helming ‘Stand Up Guys,’ featuring Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin for Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Lakeshore Entertainment. Lionsgate will release the movie.
Check out the first image from ‘Stand Up Guys’ below.
Written by: Karen Benardello
