Jake Gyllenhaal heading for The Way, Way Back

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Jake Gyllenhaal is in talks to take the lead role in The Way, Way Back , which will be written and directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, writers of The Descendants .

The pair originally wrote the script in 2007, and it went through the hands of various directors (Alexander Payne, Tom Bezucha), before Faxon and Rash were signed up to direct it themselves.

In what's no doubt a bittersweet, whimsical tale, the story follows a teenage boy over the course of a summer, during which he develops a friendship that helps him to stand up to his bullying stepfather (we're guessing Gyllenhaal, in what would be an interesting new challenge for him).

It's likely that Gyllenhaal's involvement would get the long-stalled project moving again.

Faxon and Rash are probably better known for their day jobs as actors, but they great work translating Kaui Hart Hemmings' novel The Descendants to the screen, and if they can bring the same delicate blend of comedy and heartbreak to this original story, we're there!

Gyllenhaal will next be seen in cop drama End Of Watch .

Matt Maytum
Editor, Total Film

I'm the Editor at Total Film magazine, overseeing the running of the mag, and generally obsessing over all things Nolan, Kubrick and Pixar. Over the past decade I've worked in various roles for TF online and in print, including at 12DOVE, and you can often hear me nattering on the Inside Total Film podcast. Bucket-list-ticking career highlights have included reporting from the set of Tenet and Avengers: Infinity War, as well as covering Comic-Con, TIFF and the Sundance Film Festival.