EXCLUSIVE: Marisa Tomei is in negotiations to join Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and Eugene Levy in the Tim Hill-directed feature The War With Grandpa. That would put three Oscar winners into the comedy which is based on the book by Robert Kimmel Smith.
The story is about a kid who reluctantly gives up his bedroom to accommodate his grandfather (De Niro), whom he loves but wants out of his room. The boy engages in a series of pranks meant to drive his grandpa out, but the old man is pretty wise to it and returns the volleys. Tomei would star as De Niro’s daughter (and the boy’s mother) who brings her father home in the first place before slowly catching onto what is happening. While she struggled to deal with the rivalry she is also trying to manage her rebellious, teenage daughter who is constantly sneaking out of the house.
The comedy is being produced by Marro Films and will distributed by TWC’s Dimension label on April 21, 2017. The War With Grandpa is being produced by Phillip Glasser, Marvin Peart and Rosa Morris-Peart, and Jane Rosenthal and Berry Welsh are the exec producers. Matt Ember and Tom Astle, the team behind the DreamWorks Animation hit Home and MGM’s Kid Robot did a rewrite; Lisa Addario and Joe Syracuse also get credit for the screenplay.
Tomei, who has a recurring role on Empire and also just completed Spider-Man: Homecoming, is repped by CAA, Untitled Entertainment and Jackoway Tyerman Wertheimer Austen Mandelbaum Morris & Klein.