The youngster starred alongside Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain in Tree of Life and is on board alongside Nicolas Cage. Principal photography is scheduled to start on Oct 31 in Austin, Texas. WestEnd Films is handling international sales.

Green [pictured] will direct from Gary Hawkins’ adapted screenplay of Larry Brown’s novel of the same name about an ex-con who becomes an unlikely role model to a teenager from a troubled home. CAA packaged the project and represents US rights.

Worldview Entertainment is financing and producing Joe. Green, long-time producer Lisa Muskat and Worldview CEO Christopher Woodrow serve as producers alongside Derrick Tseng.

Executive producers are Worldview Entertainment’s Molly Conners, Maria Cestone, Sarah Johnson Redlich and Hoyt David Morgan as well as Dreambridge Film’s Todd Labarowski, Brad Coolidge and Melissa Coolidge and Rough House’s Jody Hill and Danny McBride.

“We’ve built a project with an unlikely and electric cast,” said director David Gordon Green. “Joe shows a side of Nicolas Cage that we haven’t seen before. Supporting him we’ve assembled talent like Tye Sheridan who is one of the most naturalistic young actors working today. Great steps have been taken in the authenticity of this portrait.”

“We are longtime fans of David Gordon Green and all-time fans of Cage in Leaving Las Vegas and Wild at Heart,” said Eve Schoukroun of WestEnd Films. “Joe is truly an exciting project and creative collaboration.”

Topics