John Cusack and Paul Dano Set to Play Brian Wilson for ‘Love & Mercy’

By  · Published on April 18th, 2013

Bill Pohlad’s Love & Mercy is looking to start filming this summer, and it looks like they’ve got the biggest pieces of the puzzle all set. According to The Wrap, John Cusack is in talks to join the production, playing Beach Boy Brian Wilson in his mid-life years while Paul Dano plays the younger version of the iconic musician. With a script from Oren Moverman (The Messenger), the movie seeks to chronicle Wilson’s life from his 1960s success, through his public breakdown to his modern reemergence.

And, really, he makes for a fascinating subject with a hell of a soundtrack on his hip, but the names behind Love & Mercy build up a lot of excitement. Pohlad was a producer on Into the Wild, The Tree of Life and The Runaways; Moverman has shown incredible emotional nuance in his scripts; Atticus Ross (The Social Network) is scoring the film; John Wells is also producing; and Wilson himself has given the project his blessing.

This is huge. A fascinating story of a genius that has nothing but potential and the best minds surrounding it. Let’s hope the boys of summer get their start date soon.

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