Gondry and Jack Black Promise to "Rewind"

by | May 2, 2006 | Comments

Director Michel Gondry and professional goofball Jack Black will soon be collaborating on a rather bizarre-sounding high-concept comedy called “Be Kind Rewind,” the plot of which should excite all the movie geeks out there…

Says The Hollywood Reporter: “Jack Black is set to star in Michel Gondry’s eccentric comedy “Be Kind Rewind,” playing a junkyard worker whose brain is magnetized, destroying every tape in his friend’s video store and forcing the pair to remake the lost films. Focus Features International has nabbed international sales rights to the under-$20 million Partizan production, which begins a two-month shoot Sept. 6 in New York.

In the film, Black plays Jerry, a man whose headaches lead him to believe his brain is melting. His brain is magnetized, leading to the unintentional destruction of movies in his friend’s store. In order to keep the store’s one loyal customer, an elderly lady with signs of dementia, the pair re-creates a long line of films including “The Lion King,” “Rush Hour,” “Back to the Future” and “Robocop.” Producer Georges Bermann of Partizan said Gondry, who has partnered with Partizan since 1989, came to him in November with several ideas. “Michel is a super-fast writer,” Bermann said. “He handed in a draft three weeks. Focus was interested the second they heard the pitch and made the deal within a week.”

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Well-known for his rather brilliant music videos, Michel Gondry is also the director behind “Human Nature,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Dave Chappelle’s Block Party,” and the upcoming “The Science of Sleep.”