Jack Black going from 'Kung Fu Panda 2' to indie comedy 'Bailout'

'24 Hour Party People' director Michael Winterbottom is helming the film

By HitFix Staff Thursday, May 12, 2011 12:57 PM

Jack Black

Credit: AP Photo

Jack Black is set to star in "Bailout," an indie comedy directed by Michael Winterbottom, Deadline.com reports from Cannes.

The film centers on the recently unemployed, debt-ridden Matt Prior (Black), who suspicious of his wife's fidelity. Seemingly at the end of his rope, Prior encounters two strange men at the supermarket who extend him a mysterious business opportunity.

"Bailout" was written by Jess Walter, based on his own novel "The Financial Lives of The Poets." Ballyhoo's Michael Besman is producing along with Melissa Parmenter of Revolution Films, Black and Ben Cooley and Priyanka Mattoo of Electric Dynamite.

Black is in Cannes promoting his upcoming DreamWorks Animation sequel "Kung Fu Panda 2." He recently starred in "Gulliver's Travels" and "Year One." He will soon reunite with his "School of Rock" director, Richard Linklater, on "Bernie."

Winterbottom is the extremely prolific director of such films as "24 Hour Party People," "Tristram Shandy" and "The Claim." He most recently directed the ultra-violent neo-noir "The Killer Inside Me," with Casey Affleck and Jessica Alba.

"Bailout" is scheduled to start shooting in August.