John Cusack To Star In Screwball Comedy Dictablanda

John Cusack in America's Sweethearts
(Image credit: Sony Pictures Releasing)

John Cusack doesn't always make the greatest movies in the world, but the guy is so incredibly likable that it's even easy to sit through some of the worse ones (*cough*2012*cough*) . That in mind, when Cusack gets something great to work with - like Grosse Pointe Blank or High Fidelity - it becomes something truly special. Dictablanda sounds like it could fall into the latter category.

Variety has learned that Cusack has signed on to star in the aforementioned film (which translates from Spanish into "Soft Dictator") that is described as "a screwball comedy of errors." Directed by Alejandro Agresti and based on a script by Agresti, Cusack, Kevin Morris and Paul Hipp, the actor plays a man caught up in an international situation. Hipp, who previously starred with Cusack in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil will co-star. Sold with the tagline "People don't die, they get killed" the film is set to go into production later this month in Argentina.

I truly love a well-made screwball comedy, and I must say that Cusack getting a co-writing credit instills great hope (he co-wrote both classic Cusack films that I mentioned above). Let's hope this is one to look out for come next year.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.