Mary Gaitskill’s novella heads for the European Film Market with this Star Trek alum and his Oscar-winning co-star.
Star Trek’s Kelvin Timeline may seemingly be a thing of the past, but the actor who commanded the USS Enterprise hasn’t let that slow him down. And now Captain Kirk himself, Chris Pine, will join the Academy Award-winning actress Jessica Chastain in the upcoming big-screen adaptation of author Mary Gaitskill’s 83-page 2019 novella, This Is Pleasure: A Story (per Variety). Check out the synopsis below, courtesy of Goodreads:
"In This Is Pleasure, she [Gaitskill] considers our present moment through the lens of a particular #MeToo incident. The effervescent, well-dressed Quin [Pine], a successful book editor and fixture on the New York arts scene, has been accused of repeated unforgivable transgressions toward women in his orbit. But are they unforgivable? And who has the right to forgive him? To Quin’s friend Margot [Chastain], the wrongdoing is less clear.”
The synopsis continues as follows:
“Alternating Quin’s and Margot’s voices and perspectives, Gaitskill creates a nuanced tragicomedy, one that reveals her characters as whole persons—hurtful and hurting, infuriating and touching, and always deeply recognizable."
The Pine and Chastain-led #MeToo movie will be directed by the husband-and-wife team of Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. The directing duo is arguably best known for helming American Splendor, which features another Star Trek alum, Paul Giamatti.
However, Berman and Plucini most recently worked on the fifth season of the immensely popular streaming series, Only Murders in the Building. Nina Raine, who has far less professional writing experience than This Is Pleasure: A Story’s author, will pen the screenplay rather than Gaitskill.
The news comes just months after Pine and Chastain were paired up with an all-star cast to lead the upcoming crime thriller My Darling California, which also features Josh Brolin, Don Cheadle, and recent Oscar winner, Mikey Madison.
Personally, I’d love to see Pine take his rightful place on the USS Enterprise’s bridge one more time, but there’s no denying that pairing him with Chastain in This Is Pleasure: A Story is a smart business move — giving the project instant clout.
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Live long and prosper, Trekkies!