Casting Call: Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock


In which we suggest who should star in the next big adaptation, remake, or historical film.

Last month, Sam Raimi announced that he would direct an adaptation of Love May Fail, a novel by Silver Linings Playbook author Matthew Quick. However, it’s not the only Quick project in the works: Last year, James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now, Smashed) signed on to write and direct an adaptation of Quick’s YA novel Forgive Me Leonard, Peacock for the Weinstein Company.

Similar to Silver Linings Playbook, Forgive Me Leonard, Peacock openly discusses depression, this time from an adolescent perspective. The titular Leonard, a high school student, plans to kill his former best friend and then himself on his 18th birthday. He puts his grandfather’s Nazi pistol in his backpack and heads to school with the intention of giving goodbye gifts to the four people that matter most to him: his widower next door neighbor, a classmate, his crush, and his favorite teacher.

The film sounds like it’s going to be an angst-ridden, politically resonant emotional journey. With the director and the novelist’s acclaimed history in book-to-film adaptations (The Spectacular Now was also based on a YA novel), we can’t wait to see the final product. We haven’t heard much about the project in the last year, so we thought we’d give Ponsdolt a helping hand in choosing his cast. 

Casting Call runs every Friday. For more, click here.