Maria Bello, Abigail Breslin and Samuel L. Jackson will star in the indie drama “Rape: A Love Story.”
Harold Becker (“Domestic Disturbance”) will helm. Michael Mendelsohn is producing and financing through his Patriot Pictures banner, with lensing skedded to start in June.
Based on the Joyce Carol Oates novella published in 2003, story centers on a mother (Bello) recovering from a brutal gang rape who is stalked by the perpetrators but is protected by a sympathetic cop (Jackson). Breslin will play the woman’s12-year-old daughter, who witnesses the attack.
Veteran TV scribe John Mankiewicz (“House”) adapted the screenplay.
Bello, who starred in summer tentpole “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” recently wrapped indie dramedy “The Private Lives of Pippa Lee.”
Breslin recently signed on for a trio of pics. The “Little Miss Sunshine” thesp will star opposite Johnny Depp in Gore Verbinski’s animated adventure “Rango” for Paramount Pictures. She will also voice the lead character in toon “The Wild Bunch” and co-star in Columbia Pictures’ horror comedy “Zombieland” alongside Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg and Emma Stone.
Last week, Jackson inked a deal to play the role of Nick Fury in “Iron Man 2″ and potentially several other Marvel Entertainment films.
