By: Sid Perriwinkle
It seems the directing bug has bit the “Panic Room” star again as I have just learned that Jodie Foster has jumped aboard COTA Films’ drama EXTREMELY WICKED, SHOCKINGLY EVIL, AND VILE as helmer.
Although the title would lead one to believe the film centers around wizards, monsters and other things of the whimsical persuasion, the film in fact is based on a true story and follows an up and coming law student who is forced to battle a corrupt and oppressive legal system when a routine traffic stop snow balls into murder charges, imprisonment and a nationally televised trial.
Michael Werwie, a blossoming scribe responsible for penning “Lost Girls”, wrote the script. Michael Costigan, who produced the indie romance “Cyrus” and Paul Weitz’s drama “Being Flynn”, is set to produce for COTA Films.
Foster’s first directing gig came in 1991 (right after her outstanding performance in “The Silence of the Lambs”) with “Little Man Tate” which she also starred in opposite Dianne Wiest. Her next experience in the director’s chair didn’t arrive for another 4 years with the comedic “Home for the Holidays” which starred Robert Downey Jr. and Holly Hunter. In the early 2000’s Foster began venturing into producing territory, serving as executive producer on Keith Gordon’s “Waking the Dead” and as producer on Peter Care’s “The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys.” Most recently Foster helmed “The Beaver” in 2011 which starred Mel Gibson. She is currently slated to direct “Money Monster”, “Cockeyed” and pen the script for an untitled sci-fi thriller.
Foster is repped by ICM.
