Sam Rockwell, Octavia Spencer and Allison Janney have nabbed starring roles in The Heart from writer-directors Nat Faxon and Jim Rash.
Rockwell will play Joe and Spencer is Lucy, a couple who, while desperate for cash, agree to take the job of delivering a human heart from New York to Florida in 24 hours. When they realize that their delivery is destined for a black-market buyer who illegally skipped the donor list, they try to reroute the heart to its rightful recipient, only to be hunted down by insane criminals.
Those include the greedy millionaire buyer, his scorned brother and Lucy’s own drug-dealing ex-boss, played by Janney. Rockwell and Janney previously co-starred in Faxon and Rash’s directorial debut, the coming-of-age story The Way, Way Back.
Kevin Walsh and Ryan Stowell, who produced Manchester by the Sea, are producing The Heart via their Walsh Company banner, with a late 2019 production date set. Sierra/Affinity will launch international sales at the European Film Market in Berlin.
“Having worked with Nat and Jim on The Way Way Back and both producers on Manchester by the Sea, we have first-hand experience of how they all can brilliantly create an amazing film,” Jonathan Kier, Sierra/Affinity’s president of sales and distribution, said Tuesday in a statement.
Faxon and Rash are currently shooting Fox Searchlight’s Downhill, which stars Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Faxon and Rash are repped by CAA and Artists First.
Rockwell is repped by Gersh and Untitled Entertainment; Spencer is with WME; and Janney is repped by Gersh and Thruline Entertainment.