Paul Dano To Star Opposite Robert De Niro In Paul Weitz’s ‘Another Bullshit Night in Suck City’

Casey Affleck No Longer Part Of Project

This news will eventually illustrate some diversity (hang tight). During the junket for “Little Fockers” we asked director Paul Weitz if he was still intending on making “Another Bullshit Night In Suck City,” a project announced in 2009 that would star Casey Affleck and Robert De Niro. All he basically said was, “I am still hoping to do that and I’m hoping to do it with Bob so it’s still something that I’m working on, it’s a terrific memoir.”

Well, there’s a reason why he didn’t mention Affleck with that answer. Paul Dano has now stepped in to replace the actor now that the project is over at Focus Features and not Fox 2000 (Affleck’s attachment was reportedly loose). Based on a memoir by Nick Flynn, ‘Suck City’ is about a young man in his twenties (Dano) who works at various homeless shelters in Boston, where he often intersects with his brilliant but troubled and estranged father (De Niro).

But the director of “Little Fockers” tackling this serious drama that he’s adapting himself? Odd? Well, yes and no. Weitz’s career has gone a little south and commercial in recent years (“Little Fockers,” “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant,” “American Dreamz“), but he’s also helmed some solid pictures too (“About A Boy,” “In Good Company“) and written several of them as well. But let’s not forget Weitz essentially started off his directorial career with “American Pie,” so clearly he’s eclectic, knows from broad and more thoughtful tones and has jumped around with diverse career. It’s a project we’ve definitely been interested in since day one and it doesn’t diminish without Affleck, as Dano is equally great in his own unique way. Worth giving a shot. The project is rumored to start shooting in March, but that hasn’t been confirmed yet. [The Wrap]