Jon Favreau’s next directorial feature, Chef, has been shaping up very nicely in the past few days.
Robert Downey, Jr. recently boarded the project, which is set to be presented at Cannes this week.
And now Variety report that Scarlett Johansson has come on board the project alongside him, joining an already-brilliant cast led by Favreau, Downey, Jr., Sofía Vergara, John Leguizamo, and Bobby Cannavale.
The film revolves around a man (Favreau) who loses his job as a chef, and then starts up a food truck to reclaim his artistic promise and his estranged family.
Johansson will be playing Molly, the restaurant manager and sometimes love interest of Favreau’s chef, Carl Casper.
Favreau will be directing from his own script, and will produce alongside Karen Gilchrist (Cowboys & Aliens) and Sergei Bespalov (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For).
Favreau, Johansson, and Downey, Jr. have of course worked together in the past already, with the former two going toe-to-toe in the ring in Favreau’s Iron Man 2 (which, if you’ll remember, nicely saw Favreau floored by Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow).
Johansson and Downey, Jr. reunited for Joss Whedon’s The Avengers last year, and I can’t wait to see them starring alongside each other in an independent feature like this, especially with Favreau taking centre stage as the lead.
It’s not often that we get to see the writer-director in such a prominent role in front of the camera, and I’m really excited to see how the finished product. With such a stellar cast starring alongside him, it’s guaranteed to be a hit, and will no doubt be a very hot project at Cannes.
Production on Chef is set to begin on July 8th in Los Angeles. And here’s to hoping that the road to the big screen will be a smooth one, hopefully hitting nicely in Summer ’14, as a strong alternative to the blockbuster fare of the season next year.
