Vincent D'Onofrio and Salma Hayek have been
cast in Cineville's "The Velocity of Gary," an
offbeat ro-mantic-comedy love triangle that
begins principal photography in New York City
in early September.
Budgeted at less than $5 million, the indie feature
will be directed by Dan Ireland from a script by
James Sill, based on his one-man Off Broadway
play. Dan Lupovitz produces, with Ireland,
D'Onofrio, Carl Colpaert and Joe Simon serving
as executive producers.
"Gary" casts D'Onofrio as a star of erotic movies
who's involved with a waitress, played by
Hayek. Their com-placent relationship is shaken
up by the arrival of an on-the-make kid from
Kansas named Gary. Thomas Jane, who
portrayed Neal Cassady in the recent "The Last
Time I Committed Suicide," has been cast in the
title role.
The production reunites many of the key players
of the 1995 Sundance-preemed "The Whole
Wide World," which Cineville co-produced with
Kushner-Locke. In addition to Ireland,
D'Onofrio and Colpaert, other reprising team
members include cameraman Claudio Rocha
and film scorers Harry Gregson-Williams and
Oscar-winner Hans Zimmer.
Ireland, a co-founder of the Seattle Film
Festival, was a production exec with Vestron
and Cineville before mak-ing his directing debut
with "World," which co-starred Renee Zellweger
and was released domestically by Sony Pictures
Classics.
Of "Gary," Colpaert said: "This is precisely the
kind of film we want to make because it's daring
and noncon-formist. Those are the qualities in
the independent market that you need to be able
to break out and cross over."
D'Onofrio, currently doing heavy duty in "Men in
Black," will be seen this fall in the title role of
"Guy." Hayek, a winner of the Mexican Oscar,
has starred in such Stateside pictures as
"Desperado" and "Fools Rush In," and segues
into producing and starring as Frida Kahlo for
director Roberto Sneider, following "The
Velocity of Gary."
