The Wagner/Cuban Companies’ Magnolia Pictures announced today that it has acquired US rights to THE EXTRA MAN, a sophisticated comedy starring Kevin Kline and Paul Dano that bowed at Sundance this year. Directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, the directing team behind American Splendor and The Nanny Diaries, THE EXTRA MAN was written by Berman and Pulcini with Jonathan Ames, novelist and creator of HBO’s Bored to Death, and based on his novel of the same name. It was produced by Anthony Bregman of Likely Story and Stephanie Davis of 3Arts, and also stars Katie Holmes and John C. Reilly.
Dano stars as Louis Ives, a daydreaming writer who fashions himself a modern day F. Scott Fitzgerald, who sets out for New York to make a name for himself. He rents a room from the eccentric Henry Harrison (Kline), a failed but brilliant playwright who lately finds work as an “extra man”—an escort for wealthy society widows. The two form an unexpected bond, and Henry introduces Louis to a fantastic cast of eccentric characters that could only be found in New York .
Magnolia is planning a late-July theatrical opening for THE EXTRA MAN, which will play the film festival circuit this Spring, including opening night at the Sarasota and Boston Film Festivals.