David O Russell

A great cast can’t quite save this one.

The downfall of Harvey Weinstein has also shuttered a number of projects related to The Weinstein Company, including a two-season Amazon order for David O. Russell’s new drama with Robert De Niro. Production never got off the ground, but the associated studio is now suing The Weinstein Company for millions in damages.

The future of Amazon’s Matt Weiner and David O. Russell dramas came into question over The Weinstein Company’s involvement and sexual assault allegations against founder Harvey Weinstein. Now, Amazon confirms only Weiner’s series will move forward; effectively scrapping Russell’s first TV gig.

It’s hard to chart where exactly the ousting of Harvey Weinstein will lead next, but it certainly calls into question a number of Weinstein company projects. Two such Amazon outings are now “reviewing” Weinstein involvement, potentially setting back Matt Weiner’s The Romanoffs and a new David O. Russell-Robert De Niro drama.

It was a few months ago we heard even David O. Russell was getting in on the TV game, flanked by none other than Robert De Niro and Julianne Moore, but the big break is finally here. Not only does the limited series have a two-season order locked up at Amazon, reports suggest it might be a mafia series.

David O. Russell has been quiet about his next big-screen feature, preoccupied with a TV series he’s working on with Robert De Niro and Julianne Moore. But it looks like we won’t have too long to wait to see his name in the multiplex once again, as Mark Wahlberg revealed in a Facebook Live chat earlier today that he was teaming up again with Russell for a biopic about Father Stu.

Television is all about the limited series right now, and David O. Russell is cashing in on the trend.

Jennifer Lawrence’s newest starring vehicle, the Joy Mangano sorta-biopic, sorta-a-bunch-of-other-movies-smashed-together Joy, went into wide release over this past weekend only to meet with a spate of middling reviews. Lawrence’s unquestioning and absolute allegiance to director David O. Russell would appear to suggest that audiences can look forward to lots more pictures in the vein of the not-quite-there Joy, the not-quite-there American Hustle, and the not-quite-there Silver Linings Playbook. But hop one parallel dimension over, and Lawrence is currently being showered with praise for one of her most memorable, risky roles in a film that’s generated quite a bit of awards buzz.

Jennifer Lawrence was 24 when she shot Joy. Her character, Joy Mangano, was 34 when she invented the Miracle Mop and became one of the first stars of the QVC network. This fact remains inescapable throughout Joy. Lawrence remains watchable in Joy because, as one of our best young actors, she can’t help but be watchable. But she’s totally miscast as a divorced mother of two who’s been repeatedly beaten down by life’s disappointments. This part was meant for the Jennifer Lawrence of a 2025, not the one of 2015.

Jennifer Lawrence and David O. Russell are the best thing to happen to one another, making up two halves of a winning formula that’s created a handful of engaging and distinctive films popular with Oscar voters and neighborhood moviegoers alike.