'What's Wrong' with Liam Neeson and Jennifer Connelly?

Liam Neeson and Jennifer Connelly are starring in Dustin Lance Black's first legitimate directing gig.

Credit: AP Photo/Evan Agostini/Pete Kramer

After winning an Oscar for best original screenplay for "Milk" and pursuing an admirable campaign for a Harvey Milk Day in California, Dustin Lance Black is returning behind the camera.  Rarely noted is that Black has directed a number of TV episodes as well as the cliche ridden gay melodrama "The Journey of Jared Price" (which he no doubt wants everyone to forget about ).  Now, according to Variety, he's recruited Liam Neeson and fellow Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly to star in his long in the works drama "What's Wrong With Virginia."

The story finds Connelly playing a charismatic, but mentally disturbed mother of a 16-year-old boy (yet to be cast) who has been having a secret affair with a local sheriff (Neeson).  That relationship is tested when the sherif, who is also running for state senate, discovers her son is dating her daughter. 

The film is being independently financed by Tick Tock Studios and Killer Films.  No domestic distributor is set as of yet.

It's been the best and worst of times for Neeson this year.  He suffered a tragedy with the death of his wife, Natasha Richardson, from a freak skiing accident only weeks after the biggest solo hit of his career, "Taken."  He's currently portraying the Greek god Zeus in Louis Leterrier's "Clash of the Titans."

Connelly will soon be heard in Focus Feature's animated "9" (not to be confused with the musical "Nine") and recently finished production on the indie "Creation" alongside her husband Paul Bettany.

Production on "Wrong" is scheduled to begin in Michigan sometime this Summer.