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Posted: Mon., Jan. 30, 2012, 1:02pm PT
Vera Farmiga to star in 'Drummer'
She'll play Christine McVie in Dennis Wilson biopic
By ANDREW STEWART
Vera Farmiga will join Aaron Eckhart in helmer Randall Miller's indie music biopic "The Drummer," about Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson.
Farmiga, who received an Oscar nomination for 2009's "Up in the Air" and recently made her directorial debut with "Higher Ground," will play notable Fleetwood Mac singer-songwriter Christine McVie.
Miller is producing with scribe Jody Savin through their banner Unclaimed Freight Prods.(The pair were behind 2008's indie hit "Bottle Shock.") Music industry vet Brad Rosenberger also produces.
"The Drummer" follows six years in Wilson's life during which he and McVie sparked a passionate and tumultuous relationship before Wilson's death in 1983. Fleetwood Mac's album "Mirage," released in 1982, features the hit song "Hold Me," co-written by McVie and reportedly inspired by her love affair with Wilson.
Farmiga joins the project as a classically trained pianist. "She has a number of duets with Eckhart in the film," Miller noted. "The combination of Aaron and Vera will be pure magic."
Slated to begin lensing June 15, "The Drummer" is co-produced by Wilson's children, Carl and Jennifer. Gerry DeKlerk and Irene Nelson of Rampart Films exec produce, along with Caribou Records' Jim Guercio and Julie Sultan, prexy of international sales and distribution for W2 Media, which is co-financing and handling foreign rights for the film.
Jonathan Gardner of Cohen/Gardner negotiated the deal on behalf of the producers with CAA's Tracey Brennan and Jodi Peikoff of Peikoff Law Offices for Farmiga.
She is repped by CAA and Jon Rubinstein of Authentic Talent and Literary Management.
Contact Andrew Stewart at
andrew.stewart@variety.com