Screenwriting duo Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski – who penned Ed Wood (1994), The People Vs. Larry Flynt (1996) and Man On The Moon (1999) – are returning to their biopic roots by writing and directing Big Eyes, the story of painter Margaret Keane and her huckster husband Walter.
Karaszewski described the couple’s story to Variety–
[Walter] couldn’t paint a lick. He was a genius businessman who desperately wanted to be an artist, and who married an artist with a self-image problem and took full advantage. He kept her in the basement and signed his name to her work.
While Walter lives the high life, even appearing as a guest on The Tonight Show, Margaret slows comes to the realization that she doesn’t want to continue with the ruse. Their story climaxes with a rather dramatic court case.
This is Alexander and Karaszewski’s second time behind the camera, having directed the 2000 Norm MacDonald comedy Screwed. Their most recent screenplay was this year’s Stephen King adaptation 1408.
