Dakota Fanning Signs On For Diamond Heist Movie Mississippi Wild

Dakota Fanning in War of the Worlds
(Image credit: Paramount Pictures)

Dakota Fanning, who has been named Homecoming Queen twice at her Los Angeles high school and may well be getting ready to work on college applications, still can't seem to stay busy enough. The almost-17-year-old has signed on to two new projects, according to Variety she'll first film Motel Life, alongside Emile Hirsch and her sister's Somewhere co-star Stephen Dorff, then move on to Mississippi Wild, a heist film in which she and Ryan Donowho play two teens on the run after stealing diamonds from a gangster.

There's no plot description given for Motel Life, but really, how can you beat that Mississippi Wild plot description. Actually it gets even better-- Mickey Rourke is being considered to play the gangster, while Forest Whitaker is on board to play another gangster who, for some reason, is chasing Rourke's character. The film is written and directed by Jesse Baget, whose first film El Mascarado Massacre was released in 2006.

It's maybe not a great sign that the last time Dakota Fanning and Forest Whitaker worked together it was on the tiny indie Fragments (also known as Winged Creatures), which virtually nobody saw and apparently no one really liked. But come on, how can they go wrong on a second go round, especially with a plot that sounds as nutty and Wild At Heart-esque as this one? I'm sticking with that optimism until given evidence otherwise.

Katey Rich

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend