The Weinstein Company is in final negotiations to finance and distribute St. Vincent De Van Nuys, which has to be the hottest $13 million budget movie to come down the pike in some time, Deadline said.
Numerous studios have chased this one, especially after Bill Murray agreed to play the title character.
Ted Melfi wrote the script and will make his feature directorial debut, with production to begin next June.
Murray will play a cantankerous train wreck of a neighbor who takes under his corrupt wing the 12-year old son of a struggling single mother who has moved in next door.
“It’s the worst parenting decision ever made by this single mom, but she works two shifts at the hospital and the guy next door seems harmless enough,” said Melfi. “The relationship transforms both the man and the boy and even though he teaches the kid everything about his decadent lifestyle, from fighting to drinking, gambling and how to cheat lie and steal. And the 12-year old has such a pure soul that he only extracts the good from all this.”
