Zoe Saldana has joined the cast of the upcoming drama Infinitely Polar Bear, alongside the previously rumoured Mark Ruffalo, according to Vulture. The project was first announced last October, when J.J. Abrams came on board as a producer and it finally seems to be moving forward (presumably it’s been waiting for Ruffalo to know when he’ll be done playing Bruce Banner in the Avengers).
The story centres on a man (Ruffalo) who suffers from bi-polar disorder. He goes off his medication and ends up losing his job and most of his sanity. Zoe Saldana will play the man’s wife, who ends up moving out of the house, leaving him with their children.
Maya Forbes (Monsters Vs. Aliens) wrote the screenplay and will make her directorial debut with the film. Producer Megan Ellison is financing Infinitely Polar Bear through her Annapurna Films banner. Megan and her brother David, both of whom are the kids of multi-billionaire Oracle Corporation CEO Larry Ellison, are almost single handedly ensuring auteurs and interesting directors get to make the type of prestige movies that are struggling to get funding elsewhere in the current climate. They’ve also stepped in to fund movies by the likes of Paul Thomas Anderson, the Coen Brothers and John Hillcoat, amongst others.
The project is not set up at a studio yet, although it is likely Infinitely Polar Bear will land at Paramount, a studio with ties to both Megan Ellison and J.J. Abrams.