Hugh Jackman, Alicia Silverstone (because God knows, she's in such high demand for being Grade-A acting talent) and the lovely Olivia Wilde just nabbed roles in the #3 script on 2008 Blacklist, merely called, Butter.
The annual Black List has been released. The list is compiled with a poll of 250 development executives and high-level assistants, and contains a ranking of the hot screenplays making the rounds in Hollywoodland, which were written in, or are somehow uniquely associated with, 20?? and will not be released in theaters during this calendar year. Basically, the black list contains the hottest projects in Hollywood that you haven’t heard of yet.
Started two years ago by a young executive at Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company Appian Way, who polled 90+ peers to send him their 10 favorite new unproduced screenplays to read over the holidays. The underground list was e-mailed around and quickly became a Hollywood phenomenon. To give you an idea, the top three entries of the 2005 list where Things We Lost in the Fire, Juno, and Lars and the Real Girl.
Butter follows a young orphan (Yara Shahidi) who, after being adopted by a Midwestern family, discovers she has an uncanny talent for butter-carving. She eventually finds herself up against the ambitious wife (Garner) of the retired reigning champion in a town's annual butter-sculpting contest.
Jackman will play Boyd Bolton, a slimy car salesman who attempts to seduce Jennifer Garner's character. Wilde will play a stripper who is also the mistress of the current butter-churning champion, who will by played by Ty Burrell (Modern Family). While earlier reports indicated that Silverstone would play the stripper, the site is reporting that she will play the adoptive mother of Yara Shahidi's character. Jennifer Garner plays Burrell's wife and wants to retain the butter-churning championship for her family, although Shahidi's character stands in her way. Ashley Greene (Twilight Saga) also stars in the film as a rebellious teenager, Kaitlen Pickler.
It was said that the film is a satire on the 2008 Presidential election, using a butter-churning contest in Iowa as the backdrop. It was also said that Kate Hudson was originally up for the role that eventually went to Wilde.
The script was written by first timer Jason Micallef. It will be directed by Jim Fields Smith (She's Out Of My League).