This is the kind of story that sounds too absurd to be true. According to an insider for Vulture, Matt Damon will no longer be making his directorial debut with the project previously reported on. The idea came from Dave Eggers and John Krasinski, and the script was co-written by Krasinski and Damon, but the insider is citing “script issues” as the reason for Damon getting up from the director’s chair. Thus, Matt Damon is having trouble with the script from Matt Damon. The best part? Apparently he’s still on board to star. So there are 3 options here: 1) Either Matt Damon thinks the writing he (and Krasinki) did is good enough to star but not good enough to direct 2) he is having an existential crisis where he’s arguing with himself or 3) the insider is wrong. Maybe Damon really is stepping back from directing, but the reasoning here sounds ludicrous in light of the work he’s already done. Hopefully some clearer information will come out before the FSR offices run out of aspirin.

We reported back in October that Matt Damon was planning on following his life-mate Ben Affleck’s lead into the world of directing by putting together a movie about a salesman traveling to a new town and having his life dramatically changed by the experience, and that hasn’t changed. And neither has their been much additional news on the project’s development. He’s still co-writing it with The Office’s John Krasinski, who will co-star with Damon as well, and they’re still working off of an original idea that came from Dave Eggers (“A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius,” Away We Go). But, finally, something new has broke. Damon claims that they’re getting to the point in development where they’re looking to fill out the rest of the cast, and when talking to public radio show The Business, Damon says that they’ve started the casting process strong by signing up veteran actress Frances McDormand. McDormand, of course, is a living legend at this point, and going down her filmography would be a little ridiculous. Damon didn’t give up any info about what sort of character she would be playing, but her inclusion in any cast playing any role has to be seen as a positive at this point. She’s slated to next show up in Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, which is set for release this summer.

One thing is for sure – Matt Damon is going to make his directorial debut soon. He was hunting down Father Daughter Time: A Tale of Armed Robbery and another project called Eskimo Kisses, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, he’s attaching himself to direct and star in a legal drama of the Erin Brockovich style. Personally, I’d like to see him as the lead in a Grisham adaptation. His co-writer and co-star is John Krasinski, who apparently worked through the story idea (about a salesman arriving in a town, only to have his life dramatically change) with novelist Dave Eggers. This project would certainly remove a bit of the Office/Harmless Romantic Comedy vibe that Krasinski has been forced to emit for the past few years. The untitled drama could potentially start filming Spring 2012, and if it does, it will become Damon’s directorial debut. It has a lot of other movies to contend with, but the list simply ensures that we’ll see “Directed By Matt Damon” by next year. If not, if all of this stuff falls apart, it must mean someone is really fucking Matt Damon.  

Two worlds, and one man. The (sort of) true story of Valentino Achak Deng speaks of his life growing up in the civil war squalor of Sudan. When his village is reduced to cinder, he marches to a refugee camp with the other orphaned boys of Marial Bai – but his hardships will continue even after he escapes to the United States.

I loved Where The Wild Things Are. It’s a reminder that life as a kid is magical and difficult, so I’ve pinpointed seven reasons why I personally fell in love with this film.

Away We Go is… very funny. Very sweet. Sometimes sad. Often beautiful. One of the best films of the year. And easily Sam Mendes’ greatest film yet.

The star and director of Away We Go sat down with someone else’s cameras and we stole the footage. We’re very sneaky. Very. Sneaky. Just kidding. It’s promotional.

It will be like Road to Perdition: The Satire, only not.