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Nicole Kidman goes brown for The Family Fang movie based on the book by Kevin Wilson


Two and a half years ago I posted the news that Nicole Kidman had acquired the film rights to The Family Fang, Kevin Wilson's 2011 debut novel. At the time I wasn't even sure who Kidman would play. Now we're learning, via onlocationvactions.com, that filming has begun in the NYC area, and that Kidman has died her hair dark brown for the part. She'll play Annie Fang with Jason Bateman on as Buster, Annie's brother.  Actually the comic actor is also on as director - Kidman was reportedly so impressed with Bateman's feature directorial debut Bad Words, she hired him for The Family Fang. Christopher Walken [he's gonna be Captain Hook too!] is set to star as their father, Caleb Fang. Not sure who is playing his wife Camille. I can't see how this will be anything but fabulous. We know Bateman and Walken have funny chops, and it's time for Kidman to have another go at the genre. The screenplay was written by David Lindsay-Abaire whose excellent script for Rabbit Hole [based on his play] helped earn Nicole Kidman an Academy nomination. 

Here's a refresher on the material from the author's website.  

Mr. and Mrs. Fang called it art. Their children called it mischief.
Performance artists Caleb and Camille Fang dedicated themselves to making great art. But when an artist’s work lies in subverting normality, it can be difficult to raise well-adjusted children. Just ask Buster and Annie Fang. For as along as they can remember, they starred (unwillingly) in their parents’ madcap pieces. But now that they are grown up, the chaos of their childhood has made it difficult to cope with life outside the fishbowl of their parents’ strange world.
When the lives they’ve built come crashing down, brother and sister have nowhere to go but home, where they discover that Caleb and Camille are planning one last performance—their magnum opus—whether the kids agree to participate or not. Soon, ambition breeds conflict, bringing the Fangs to face the difficult decision about what’s ultimately more important: their family or their art.
Filled with Kevin Wilson’s endless creativity, vibrant prose, sharp humor, and keen sense of the complex performances that unfold in the relationships of people who love one another, The Family Fang is a masterfully executed tale that is as bizarre as it is touching.