The untitled film is based on an original idea conceived by Evans.
Chris Evans is swinging for the fences to start the new year. The Knives Out star is in talks to portray legendary actor Gene Kelly in a project originally conceived by the 40-year-old actor.
According to multiple reports, Evans will play Kelly in an untitled film that's yet to have a studio attached to it. According to Deadline, which was first to report on the upcoming project, the film's about a 12-year-old boy who works on the MGM lot in 1952, and creates an imagined friendship with Kelly, who is working on his next film.
Kelly, of course, is the legendary actor known for classics like Singin' in the Rain, An American in Paris and On the Town. The Pittsburgh native, who died in 1996, is credited with introducing ballet to film audiences and transforming Hollywood musicals. He was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 1992 and is No. 15 in the American Film Institute's list of Greatest Male American Screen Legends. Humphrey Bogart's first.
Evans will also produce the Kelly project alongside Mark Kassen. Three-time Oscar nominee John Logan will produce and write the script. Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman, who worked with Evans in Knives Out, have also signed on to the project via their T-Street Productions.
It's the second time in as many months that Evans is set to reunite with his Knives Out colleagues. Just last month, it was announced Evans and his Knives Out co-star Ana de Armas would team up again in Ghosted after a scheduling conflict forced Scarlett Johansson to drop out of the Apple Original film.
The Gene Kelly project is the latest high-profile gig for Evans. He's also set to co-star alongside de Armas in the Russo brothers action thriller The Gray Man for Netflix. Not to mention, Evans is also voicing Toy Story's Buzz Lightyear in the upcoming animated film, Lightyear.
To infinity and beyond, alright.
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