Brendan Fraser Drives a Ford Drama

Wed., Jan. 14, 2009 4:01 PM PST by Natalie Finn

Jun Sato/ Getty Images; Nancy Kaszerman / Zuma Press

Brendan Fraser needs Harrison Ford's help, badly.

At least he will in the upcoming drama he's planning to star in alongside Ford, inspired by the true story of biotech executive John Crowley, who took research and development into his own hands when two of his children were diagnosed with a fatal neuromuscular disorder in 1998.

Fraser will play the family man who's desperate to discover a cure, and Ford is on board to play the oddball scientific genius whom Fraser's character turns to for the pioneering treatments his kids need to survive.

"It's an inspirational drama with universally relatable themes," said CBS Films president and CEO Amy Baer. Added producer Double Feature Films: "We love uplifting stories inspired by ordinary people who fight to make a difference. Done well, these films fall into a great tradition of Hollywood entertainment."

Well, Fraser did a bang-up job in The Quiet American and Gods and Monsters. There's definitely a chance this inevitable tearjerker will be "done well," Monkeybone and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor notwithstanding.

Elsewhere in the world of brand-name casting:

• Oscar winners Geoffrey Rush and Susan Sarandon are the latest Hollywood-type thesps to stage a Broadway rebellion. The heavyweights are gearing up to play delusional King Berenger and sensible Queen Marguerite in a revival of Eugene Ionesco's absurdist comedy Exit the King, about a pompous ruler who doesn't believe he's dying and absolutely refuses to hand over the keys to the kingdom. Opening night is March 27 at the Barrymore Theatre. Lauren Ambrose plays Rush's second wife and partner in denial.

• Also headed for the Great White Way are Jane Fonda, Samantha Mathis and Colin Hanks, who are set to headline 33 Variations, a new play by The Laramie Project scribe Moisés Kaufman about a present-day woman (Fonda) who becomes obsessed with a 19th-century Austrian composer.

• The Devil Wears Prada standout Emily Blunt is in the running—and said to be leading—for a femme-fatale role in Iron Man 2, according to Variety. The British actress would play Natasha Romanoff, a Russian spy who doubles as the technologically enhanced Black Widow.