Yale Entertainment Swings for the Fences with “Bucky F*ing Dent”
Yale Entertainment has announced the lead cast for its upcoming romantic dramedy “Bucky F*ing Dent,” David Duchovny’s adaptation of his own novel.
Stephanie Beatriz and Logan Marshall-Green star alongside Duchovny, who is also helming and scripting. The pic recently wrapped shooting in New Jersey; no release date has been set. Yale Entertainment’s sales unit, Great Escape, will introduce the film at AFM.
Beatriz is best known as the voice of Mirabel in Disney’s “Encanto” and for the role of Rosa Diaz on “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” She will next appear in Peacock’s action-comedy series “Twisted Meta.”
Marshall-Green’s acting credits include Netflix’s “Lou” and “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” He also wrote and directed Ethan Hawke starrer “Adopt a Highway,” which premiered at SXSW in 2019.
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Jordan Yale Levine, a partner in Yale Entertainment and a producer on “Bucky F*ing Dent,” told Variety the casting fits Yale’s overall strategy. “David alone, in this kind of project, makes financial sense. We didn’t need Miles Teller or Zac Efron to greenlight this project. We produce these films at conservative budgets where we feel like the movie’s getting enough to be a good film, but it also makes sense for our investors.”
Jordan Beckerman, also a partner in the company and a producer on the picture, added: “We really followed [Duchovny’s] lead … David believed, and we believe, that these actors will make this a moving, funny story.”
“Bucky F*ing Dent,” set in New York in 1978, follows Ted (Marshall-Green), an aimless thirtysomething who moves in with his father Marty (Duchovny) when Marty develops a fatal illness. Marty’s health suffers every time the Boston Red Sox lose, so to keep him happy and alive, Ted enlists Marty’s grief counselor Mariana (Beatriz) and friends to fake a Red Sox winning streak.
Nick Donnermeyer, president of Great Escape, said the film’s comedic tone helps sell it to territories that don’t have much passion for baseball.
“[The casting of] David Duchovny, especially his stint on ‘Californication’ has been very helpful in communicating that tone to buyers,” said Donnermeyer. “Yes, this is a romantic drama, but there’s so much biting comedy in it. So that’s very helpful in getting over the hurdle of the baseball element that’s somewhat baked into the story.”
Yale’s slate includes five pics now in post: “Clean Up Crew,” starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Melissa Leo, and Antonio Banderas; “The Last Girl” with Alice Eve and Antonio Banderas; “The Kill Room” starring Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Joe Manganiello and Maya Hawke; and “September 17th,” Brittany Snow’s directorial debut; and “Clawfoot,” a thriller starring Francesca Eastwood, Milo Gibson, Olivia Culpo, Nestor Carbonell and Oliver Cooper.
Yale Entertainment has also partnered with Katie Holmes to launch Lafayette Pictures. Yale Prods. and Lafayette partnered on “Alone Together,” which Holmes directed, and her follow-up feature “Rare Objects,” now in post. “Alone Together” premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in July.
Beckerman said, “Over the course of years of acting, you also develop, an eye and the vision for, how to tell great stories. People like Brittany, like Katie, like David, who want take ownership of the stories that they tell. For us it’s, it’s all about allowing them to have that voice supporting them in their vision.”
Both Beatriz and Marshall-Green are repped by CAA and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher. Beatriz is also repped by Authentic Talent and Literary Management; Marshall-Green by 3 Arts Entertainment.
