For quite a while now, Cameron Crowe has been set to direct We Bought A Zoo, based on Ben Mee’s bestselling memoir, with Matt Damon down for the lead role. A Christmas 2011 release date has even been announced, but what has slightly been lacking is a female lead.
Well it now appears Crowe has gotten round to trying to find one, drawing up a shortlist for the role, which is apparently topped by Scarlett Johansson, with Amy Adams, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Rachel McAdams also in the mix. It’s pretty much the same list as every major female role in Hollywood gets (often with the addition of Angelina Jolie and Natalie Portman), with the only odd one out here being Winstead, who normally plays very young and may seem odd as Damon’s wife.
It’s a fairly pivotal and potentially noteworthy role though. The hook for the film is that’s it’s a truly incredible tale, of the sort that would seem made up if it weren’t true. Despite having no experience looking after animals, Ben Mee bought the delapidated Dartmoor Wildlife Park almost on a whim. He then moved his entire family to Devon, rechristened the attraction Dartmoor Zoological Park, gave the entire thing an overhaul and rehabilitated the 500 animals there. However the heart of the story is that one of the reasons the family embarked on such a drastic change was to get a fresh start after Mee’s wife battled back to health following a brain tumour. Sadly though, as they struggled to finance the zoo revamp and get the animals properly housed, her tumour re-emerged.
With shooting scheduled to begin in the next few months, expect the tragic role to be filled fairly soon. I’d imagine that it’ll be an in-demand part, with contenders smelling potential Oscar nominations.