Alexander Payne might not have started making his next film just yet but he’s already lining up the one that’ll come after that, according to The Wrap.
The writer/director of Sideways and Nebraska is interested in directing a romantic comedy called Septillion to One, based on the life of Joan Ginther, who won the lottery four times. Her $20m (£13.4m) haul was arguably down to her PhD in statistics from Stanford.
The script has been described as a cross between Silver Linings Playbook and Ocean’s Eleven as it follows an FBI agent who is tasked with investigating whether Ginther’s wins were fraudulent, since the odds are one in a billion. As you might be able to guess, the pair fall for each other.
Payne is reportedly circling the project and hoping to put it in his schedule after the sci-fi comedy Downsizing which will star Matt Damon and Reese Witherspoon. The film is about a man who shrinks himself in order to have a better life. It’s yet to start production.
His last film Nebraska was nominated for six Oscars and Payne has previously won before for co-writing the scripts for Sideways and The Descendants.
The script for Septillion to One comes from Adam R Perlman and Graham Sack. Perlman has also worked on HBO’s drama The Newsroom.
