Oscar winner Cate Blanchett will join Ben Stiller and James Franco in Noah Baumbach's "While We're Young," producer Scott Rudin has confirmed to Thompson on Hollywood.
The relationship dramedy follows a free-spirited twenty-something Brooklyn couple (Franco and a yet-to-be-cast actress) who inspires a documentarian (Stiller) and his wife (Blanchett) to loosen up — with comedic consequences.
It's good to see Blanchett branching out and tackling lighter fare on the heels of "Robin Hood," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." Blanchett will likely work wonders with Baumbach's rich dialogue, and the change should do her good and win the actress some new fans who prefer hip indies to big-budget fare like "The Lord of the Rings."
Baumbach's "Greenberg" star Greta Gerwig was briefly attached to play Franco's wife, but unspecified scheduling issues forced her to exit the project, which Rudin is still finalizing financing and distribution for.
"Young" will be Rudin's third film with Baumbach, as he previously produced "Greenberg" and "Margot at the Wedding."
"While We're Young" is scheduled to start production next summer in New York.
Blanchett next stars alongside Eric Bana and Saoirse Ronan in Joe Wright's teenage assassin tale "Hanna." She's also set to reprise her role as Galadriel in Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit."
