Dakota Fanning has signed on to co-star alongside Ewan McGregor and Jennifer Connelly in Lakeshore Entertainment’s adaptation of Philip Roth’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “American Pastoral,” TheWrap has learned.
Philip Noyce (“The Giver”) is directing from a script by John Romano, who adapted Roth’s acclaimed novel.
“American Pastoral” follows Seymour “Swede” Levov (“McGregor), a legendary high school athlete, who grows up to marry a former beauty queen (Connelly) and inherits his father’s business. Swede’s seemingly perfect life shatters when his daughter Merry (Fanning) rebels by becoming a revolutionary and commits a deadly act of political terrorism during the Vietnam War.
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“The role of Merry is an extremely complex part, and I believe that Dakota Fanning will break our hearts with her performance,” said Lakeshore president Gary Lucchesi, who’s producing the movie with Tom Rosenberg.
Production is slated to start in March in Pittsburgh.
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Since catapulting to fame in action-heavy movies such as “War of the Worlds,” “Man on Fire” and the “Twilight Saga,” Fanning has built an impressive resume of strong performances in acclaimed indie films. She recently starred in “The Runaways” and Kelly Reichardt’s “Night Moves” and will soon be seen alongside Kevin Kline and Susan Sarandon in “The Last of Robin Hood.”
Fanning also has Amy Berg’s “Every Secret Thing,” Andrew Renzi’s “Franny” and an untitled Gerardo Naranjo project on the horizon. She’s represented by CAA and Echo Lake Entertainment.