'Chef' - Jon Favreau, Robert Downey, Jr.

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Jon Favreau Going Indie With ‘Chef’

After directing a string of big-budget actioners — Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and Cowboys & Aliens — Jon Favreau will get back in touch with his indie roots with his next project. The filmmaker has signed on to direct in star in Chef, which he also wrote and will produce.

In addition to Favreau, the cast will feature some solid talents including Sofia Vergara and Bobby Cannavale. John Leguizamo is also said to be circling. Get more details after the jump.

Variety got the scoop. Favreau is keeping quiet about the project for now, tweeting only “I can’t confirm anything yet, but I definitely won’t deny.” This Chef is a different one from the other Chef that’s been in development for years with David Fincher and then Derek Cianfrance.

Described as a slice-of-life character study, Favreau’s film follows an “emotional” Los Angeles-based restaurant chef and the people around him. Favreau will lead as the title character. Vergara is attached to play his ex-wife, and Cannavale a sous-chef. The plan is to shoot this June, so keep an eye out for it next year.

Favreau first made his mark in indies with the script for 1996′s Swingers, and followed up a few years later with his directorial debut Made. His next film, the Christmas classic Elf, ushered him into bigger studio projects. 2010′s Iron Man 2 was his priciest film ever, with a $200 million budget. Chef sees him scaling way back, as it’ll be his smallest picture since Made.

Since 2011′s disappointing Cowboys & Aliens, Favreau has been linked to a number of different films including Battle for Bonneville and Magic Kingdom. For a while it looked like Jersey Boys would be his next directorial effort, but Warner Bros. decided to drop it late last year. He’s also helmed a number of TV episodes, including the pilots for Revolution and About a Boy. As an actor, he’ll next appear in Iron Man 3 and Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street.

Vergara remains best known for Modern Family but has lined up several big-screen gigs outside of that including Machete Kills and Heat with Jason Statham. Cannavale has a role in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine, due out this summer. Legizamo’s upcoming releases include Kick-Ass 2 and Ridley Scott’s The Counselor.

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Robert Downey Jr. Re-Teams With Jon Favreau on Indie Comedy ‘Chef’

The ascent of Robert Downey Jr. from near-outcast status to major movie star can be traced in part to Jon Favreau, who lobbied to cast Downey as Tony Stark in Iron Man. The success of the film minted the actor as a bona-fide star, and also helped push Favreau’s directorial career to a new level.

Now the two will work together once again on a much smaller project: an indie ensemble comedy called Chef. (Not to be confused with the project of the same name that once had David Fincher attached to direct.) Favreau scripted, and has assembled a cast that also features Sofia Vergara, John Leguizamo, and Bobby Cannavale.

Variety reports that production stars July 8, and that the film will feature Favreau as “a man who loses his chef job and starts up a food truck to reclaim his artistic promise and reclaiming his estranged family.” Further details are thin, but as the Cannes market goes on we might get more details of Favreau’s plan.

The film will be his first as director since Cowboys & Aliens in 2011.

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