Xavier Dolan’s Jessica Chastain-Led ‘John Donovan’ Gets a Spring Start Date

Our friends at The Playlist have some exciting news for Xavier Dolan fans: His English-language debut “The Death and Life of John F. Donovan” — which stars Jessica Chastain, Kit Harington, Susan Sarandon and Kathy Bates — will start shooting next year.

They also had a new synopsis. The film “follows a young actor, 10 years after the death of an American TV star he corresponded with as a teenager, who recollects the pen-pal relationship he used to have with his past idol. The film explores the hardships of fame and hurdles of the movie business through the lives of both, now and then, and reflects on the issue of identity and diversity in Hollywood over the past decade.”

“I’ve been meaning to tell that story for a long time – before I wrote ‘I Killed My Mother,'” said Dolan in a statement. “It always is precarious to venture into movies on movies. Everyone scowls when they hear about the next movie on the business. But this isn’t a movie on the business. It is a movie about a man trying to make it, trying to live his dream and his life all at once, and being told that he basically can’t. It also is about a kid dreaming of having this man’s life for all the wrong reasons, not realizing how painful it actually is. I was that kid, writing love letters to actors – as a matter of fact it seems like I still am. And that story is a tribute to both the kid I was and the idols of my childhood – some died, some just disappeared without a trace, because they didn’t fit.”

Dolan’s next film “It’s Only The End of the World” has finished shooting and is almost certain to be at Cannes next May.

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Xavier Dolan’s Jessica Chastain-Led ‘John Donovan’ Gets a Spring Start Date

Xavier Dolan's Jessica Chastain-Led 'John Donovan' Gets a Spring Start Date