If it feels like Emile Hirsch has been off our screens for a couple of years, that’s because A) he’s something of a chameleon and B) he’s mostly stuck to smaller supporting roles in the couple of years since Speed Race****r. But he’s been working steadily, appearing in **Milk **and Taking Woodstoc****k, with alien invasion film **The Darkest Hour **and hit man comedy drama Killer Joe both set to arrive this year. And now he’s signed on to a new starring role, taking the lead in **The Motel Life.
Producers Alan and Gabriel Polsky, who last brought us (good) crazy Nic Cage in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans, are getting the financing together to adapt Willy Vlautin’s book, which sees two brothers on the run from a Reno motel room after a hit-and-run accident that leaves someone else dead.
The Polskys apparently don’t have a writer or director attached yet, though according to Variety they may end up taking on both jobs themselves, Coens-style. And while there’s no distributor engaged, the presence of Hirsch should at least draw in some interest.
Once the funding is in place, the producers aim to start shooting later this year.