Funnyman to go dark for true story of John duPont
Variety reports that ‘Moneyball’ director Bennett Miller is to direct Steve Carell in ‘Foxcatcher.’ With a script by Max Frye and Dan Futterman, the movie is the true story of John duPont.
A paranoid schizophrenic and heir to the duPont chemical company, duPont built a wrestling training facility called Team Foxcatcher on his 800-acre Pennsylvania estate, where in 1996, he shot and killed Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler and longtime friend Dave Schultz.
Police never established a motive for the crime, which was witnessed by Schultz’s wife and du Pont’s head of security. After the shooting, duPont locked himself in his mansion for two days while he negotiated with police on the telephone. He was captured after authorities shut off his power and duPont went outside to fix his heater.
‘Foxcatcher’ is set to begin production in March. Carell can be seen starring alongside Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, and Emma Stone in ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’ which is in cinemas now. Miller’s ‘Moneyball’ starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill arrives in cinemas November 4th 2011.