CANNES — Rookie writer Josh Parkinson and writer-director David Gordon Green have teamed for two developing projects.
Green’s Rough House banner has dipped into its discretionary fund to pick up pre-emptively Parkinson’s first original screenplay, “Free Country,” a thriller with comedic elements. Parkinson is further developing the script with Green, who is eyeing it as a potential directing gig.
The pair also has been hired by Paramount to rework the screenplay for “Battling Boy,” an adaptation of a graphic novel the studio picked up in late 2008 for Brad Pitt’s Plan B shingle. “Watchmen” co-writer Alex Tse previously worked on the adaptation.
Green launched Rough House with writer-director Jody Hill and writer-actor Danny McBride last year. The company also has the comedy “L.A.P.I.” and the crime drama “Taking Flight” in development. Rough House has a production deal at Mandate Pictures, but “Free Country” is not set up there.
Repped by CAA and the Gotham Group, Green next helms the Fox comedy “The Sitter,” written by Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka and starring Jonah Hill. The Green-directed “Your Highness,” co-written by and starring McBride, will be released in October by Universal. He most recently directed “Pineapple Express” and “Snow Angels.”
The Gotham Group-repped Parkinson is an author who recently moved to Los Angeles from Athens, Ga.
