Bruce Willis, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Alec Baldwin have joined the cast of Edward Norton’s “Motherless Brooklyn.”
Norton writes, directs and stars in the adaptation of the 1999 Jonathan Lethem novel, which just began production in New York City.
The cast also includes Willem Dafoe (“The Florida Project”), Cherry Jones (“American Crime”), Ethan Suplee (“Chance”), Leslie Mann (“This Is 40”), Josh Pais (“Ray Donovan”), Fisher Stevens, Michael K. Williams (“Assassin’s Creed”) and Robert Wisdom (“The Dark Knight Rises”).
Norton stars as Lionel Essrog, a lonely private detective in 1950s New York who is afflicted with Tourette’s Syndrome, as he ventures to solve the murder of his mentor and only friend, Frank Minna (Willis).
Armed only with a few clues and the powerful engine of his obsessive mind, Lionel unravels closely-guarded secrets that hold the fate of the whole city in the balance.
In a mystery that carries him from gin-soaked jazz clubs in Harlem to the hard-edged slums of Brooklyn and, finally, into the gilded halls of New York’s power brokers, Lionel contends with thugs, corruption and the most dangerous man in the city to honor his friend and save the woman who might be his own salvation.
Norton is also producing with his Class 5 Films producing partner Bill Migliore (“Thanks for Sharing”). MWM Studios’ Gigi Pritzker (“Drive”) and Rachel Shane (“Divergent”) will also produce. The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Executive producers include Michael Bederman, Adrian Alperovich, Sue Kroll, Robert F. Smith, Brian Sheth and Daniel Nadler.