Cory Michael Smith is attached to AIDS drama film ‘1985’.
The 30-year-old ‘Gotham’ star is being eyed up along with Virginia Madsen and Michael Chiklis to co-star in the movie alongside ‘Stranger Things’ actor Noah Schnapp and The Hangover Part II’s Jamie Chung.
The script, penned by its director Yen Tan who has worked on ‘Pit Stop’, is based on his SXSW Special Jury Prize winning short. It is set in the year 1985 – at a time when more than 12,529 people had died of the AIDS disease – and focuses on a man called Adrian (played by Smith), who too is dying of AIDS and prepares to move in with his estranged mother in Texas.
He tries to cover up his illness from his conservative parents (played by Madsen and Chiklis) and he’s challenged when he meets up with his young brother (played by Schnapp) and his old flame (Chung).
Madsen starred in ‘Designated Survivor’, whilst Chiklis is famed for his role in ‘Gotham’ and ‘FX’S The Shield’.
Ash Christian is producing for Cranium Entertainment along with HutcH for MuseLessMime Productions,
Filming is expected to take place in Dallas next month.
Nancy Schafer, Monte Zajicek and Stacey Davis are executive producers alongside Jeff Elliott and Chad Moore, who will also co-finance and handle sales through Green-Light International.
Meanwhile Smith is working on ‘Wonderstruck’ – Todd Haynes’ upcoming movie, based on a novel by Brian Selznick that follows the intertwined stories of two deaf children set 50 years apart.