Finally, Ellen Page Will Become a Teenage Lesbian Werewolf

With her much-acclaimed teen-pregnancy comedy Juno landing in theaters today, Ellen Page’s sudden success is getting a long-gestating project off the ground. Some time ago — before her role in Juno, or even Hard Candy — Page was attached to a project called Jack and Diane, an off-beat drama about a love affair between two teenage girls, written by Bradley Rust Gray, whose directorial credits include an underseen (but critically admired) Icelandic film called Salt and the Will Smith comedy Hitch (nobody’s perfect, right?) a short called Hitch (oops!). But, despite Gray’s résumé and Page’s burgeoning reputation, the production remained in development hell. Even the involvement of super-producer Scott Rudin couldn’t help it off the ground. One reason might’ve been the film’s misleading synopsis on IMDb, which says, “Diane must struggle to keep their love alive while hiding the secret that her newly awakened sexual desire occasionally turns her into a werewolf.” Really, though, Jack and Diane is a love story that includes animated scenes of werewolfery (by the reputable Quay brothers), which represent Diane’s emotional turmoil.

Now that that’s been cleared up, things are finally looking good for Jack and Diane. Last week at the Gotham Awards, Page — shortly before accepting her trophy for breakthrough actor — told us the movie is finally, actually happening, with Gray signed on to direct. “We might shoot it this spring,” she said. “It’s all been finalized recently.” —Eric Kohn