James Franco and Winona Ryder to star in THE STARE, launching Waterstone Entertainment

James Franco and Winona Ryder are set to star in The Stare being directed by Jay Anania. The film is the first project funded by Waterstone Entertainment, a new producing/financing company formed by producer Jeff Kalligheri and Texas real estate developer and producer Steve Bowen.

Waterstone will generate projects it develops and has several other projects in the works, including two being produced by Franco (one he'll direct) and his Rabbit Bandini partner Vince Jolivette. According to Kalligheri,"Waterstone's core business will be to build a distribution business through a partnership it will strike with an independent distributor." Waterstone will put up minimum guarantees on films, and will also be looking for structured finance opportunities on films that are in the works. Kalligheri will be meeting with potential strategic partner distributors at Cannes, with Waterstone repped by Gersh's head of Packaging and Finance, Jay Cohen. 

The Stare, "a drama in which a playwright (Ryder) finds her mind beginning to warp as she struggles to launch her next production. She's plagued by dreams and visions of being watched, but can't decide if she's at the center of a manipulative plot or simply losing her grip on reality." Franco plays one of the performers in the playwright's production. Shooting begin in New York on May 6. Franco is producing with Jolivette, with Kalligheri exec producing with Steven Garcia, Rich Hill and Eric Amadio. Franco previously starred in Shadows and Lies for the film's writer-director Anania, a teacher of Franco's who heads the directing program at the graduate film school at NYU. 

I like Franco and I would hope that the film is decent if he's involved. Ryder has been making a comeback as of late with her powerful performance in Black Swan. The Stare sounds very similar to Black Swan to me.  What are your thoughts?

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