Alex Kurtzman's "Welcome to People" Welcomes Mark Duplass

Alex Kurtzman's "Welcome to People" Welcomes Mark Duplass

Movie News

By our guest blogger, Matt Jussim

Screenwriter and producer Alex Kurtzman has literally been killing it since he made it to Hollywood, penning such films as "Transformers," "Mission Impossible III," "Star Trek" and the upcoming "Cowboys & Aliens."

After years of working primarily as a writer, Kurtzman plans on donning the title of director for the first time for his upcoming film "Welcome to People," which has just added a solid member to its cast.

For viewers of the FX series "The League," Mark Duplass is best known as the slacker Pete Eckhart, but to the more seasoned film fan, he is one of the Duplass Brothers, the kings of the "mumblecore" genre and directors of the 2010 film "Cyrus."

While the Brothers are currently in post-production on their upcoming 2011 release "Jeff Who Lives at Home," Mark plans on keeping himself busy, joining the cast of Alex Kurtzman's directorial debut film "Welcome to People," according to Variety.

The film centers on a twentysomething man (Chris Pine) who, after flying home to L.A. for the funeral of his father, discovers that the will says that he must deliver $150,000 in cash to a 30-year-old alcoholic sister (Elizabeth Banks) he never knew existed. Determined to keep the money to solve his own issues, he's fascinated by his unknown kin and makes contact without revealing who he really is.

Duplass ("Baghead") will play a neighbor who takes a romantic interest in Banks' character. Olivia Wilde and Michelle Pfeiffer also are among the cast.

Kurtzman co-wrote the script with longtime partner Roberto Orci and Jody Lambert.

I really think this project has potential to be very good and very interesting, mainly because of Kurtzman's heavy involvement. While he is best known for his excellent science fiction work ("Fringe," "Transformers"), everything Kurtzman writes always seems to have solid emotional interactions and great character development, which will be essential for a project like this to work.

On top of that, the addition of Duplass (who is making his name more and more known by the month) is also excellent because he should be perfect for the part as the curious neighbor.

Kurtzman and Pine had some magic together on "Star Trek," so hopefully the addition of Duplass to an already solid cast will mean success for Kurtzman's directorial debut.