Jason Bateman is taking a couple months off from studio films to star in two new indie movies, according to Variety. The actor is in final negotiations for both projects, which he will film back-to-back in October and November.
In the first project, entitled “The Longest Week”, Bateman plays a man living a cushy existence in his parents’ luxurious Manhattan hotel who suddenly finds himself evicted, cut out of the family inheritance and “in love” (we’re assuming with co-star Olivia Wilde). Writer/director Peter Glanz is the creator/director of “The Trivial Pursuits of Arthur Banks”, a web series starring Adam Goldberg that is the debut offering from the recently-announced AMC Digital Studios.
The second film is “Disconnect”, an ensemble piece also starring Alexander Skarsgard, Colin Ford, Frank Grillo, Andrea Riseborough and Michael Nyqvist. Bateman will play the father of Ford’s character. The film follows several people who are affected in various ways by the Internet and other forms of modern communication. Henry-Alex Rubin will direct from a script by Andrew Stern.
2011 has been an up-and-down year for Bateman commercially. While his Greg Mottola comedy “Paul” opposite Simon Pegg and Nick Frost failed to make much of a box-office dent in the States (though it did well in the UK), he rebounded in July with “Horrible Bosses”, which grossed over $200 million worldwide. That success was followed by “The Change-Up” opposite Ryan Reynolds, which took in a paltry $36 million in domestic receipts.