Even as Jessica Chastain’s “Zookeeper’s Wife” is unfolding as an indie hit comes word about a potential new project. I’m told that Chastain and Josh Brolin are circling a musical bio pic of George Jones and Tammy Wynette directed by Taylor Hackford. The word is the project is “coming together” fast. What a great film– and perfect director since Hackford knows music films best. 

Meanwhile our Leah Sydney caught up with Chastain last week at the LA premiere of “Zookeeper,” where the busy actress (five films in the can) was hoping to get a rest soon. “Zookeeper” has already made $7.4 million in two weeks. Produced by Jamie Patricof, the film is a true story based on the best seller by Diane Ackerman. Chastain plays Polish heroine Antonina Zabinska, who along with her fellow animal loving husband Jan ( Belgian actor Johan Heldenbergh) are both keepers of the Warsaw Zoo.  They heroically managed to save hundreds of Jews by hiding them from the Nazis in empty animal cages, putting their own lives and that of their son at risk. Daniel Bruhl perfectly plays the sinister Nazi Zoologist Lutz Heck.

Written by Angela Workman and directed by Niki Caro, the film is at times truly moving and tough to watch, bittersweet and lovely– especially when showing the universal appeal of love for animals and the innate desire to help our fellow human beings in need.  At the recent premiere n Hollywood I asked Jessica what drew her to the role. “I wanted to celebrate a hero who used compassion to fight hate.”  She explained,  “A lot of times we only celebrate heroes who use violence.  It’s important to look at the non violent people.”

with reporting from RF

“Risk,” Laura Poitras’s film sbout Julian Assange, has been sold to Showtime. The cable network showed a promo for it after the finale of Homeland. More to come.

This is the film we saw in Cannes last year that showed how Assange escaped into the Ecuadorian embassy in London. It also shows him being interviewed by Lady Gaga. Now maybe it will include footage of him shtupping Pamela Anderson on Ecuador’s dime.

I asked several times in the last year what had happened to “Risk.” There was no answer. Then tonight it turned up on the Showtime promo. What a weird way to announce a film.

In Cannes we did get to meet Assange’s weird assortment of cult like followers. One day when he goes to jail perhaps they’ll go with him. Who knows?

What seems to be the case is that there’s no theatrical release for this film. Poitras released “CitizenFour” through Radius-Weinstein and won an Oscar. But the Radius people have vanished, and I guess there were no takers. Still, Showtime can make a big deal of this.

Showtime, by the way, means Les Moonves of CBS approved this. I’m fascinated by Moonves’s interest in progressive politics. Good for him. Waiting for “Homeland” tonight I watched “Circus” and was totally captivated. (But I am sorry about Peter Quinn.)

The box office waits for a very Good Friday this coming Friday, and not the Friday we just had. The weekend was tepid to say the least, with “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Boss Baby” still on top, and not much else happening.

There are plenty of duds, from “Life” to “CHiPS,” to “T2: Trainspotting” and “Ghost in the Shell.” The misery is pretty much spread around the studio system. Only Disney is crowing, and Fox can enjoy “Boss Baby” for what it is.

And so we wait. “Fate of the Furious” comes this Friday, as foes “Lost City of Z.” They should be audience pleasers if not great movie making. They may give a jolt to the April box office. We really don’t get a blockbuster til May 5th and “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2” — which is Disney again. And then Disney comes back again May 26th with “Pirates of the Caribbean: Here Wee Go Again.”

The only potential bright spot for adults is Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn in “Snatched” on May 12th from Fox. Let’s cross our fingers on that one!