Middle Age Hollywood

Steve Carell is fresh off the weekend opening of "Dinner for Schmucks" and now Production Weekly is reporting (via The Playlist) that he may be reuniting with some of his old pals for an upcoming gig. "Little Miss Sunshine" producers Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa and Polly Johnsen are prepping an adaptation of Tom Perrotta's 2007 book "The Abstinence Teacher." It was originally announced with directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris attached to helm back in 2006, a few months after their "Sunshine" released. Now it's back with no mention of Dayton/Faris but the "Sunshine" producers on board... and high-profile talents Carell and Sandra Bullock set to star.

Book Synopsis

Ruth Ramsey is the human sexuality teacher at the local high school. She believes that "pleasure is good, shame is bad, and knowledge is power." Ruth's younger daughter's soccer coach is Tim Mason, a former stoner and rocker whose response to hitting rock bottom was to reach out and be saved. Tim belongs to The Tabernacle, an evangelical Christian church that doesn't approve of Ruth's style of teaching. And Ruth in turn doesn't applaud The Tabernacle's mission to take its message outside its doors.

Adversaries in a small-town culture war, Ruth and Tim instinctively mistrust each other. But when a controversy on the soccer field pushes the two of them to actually talk to each other, they are forced to take each other at something other than face value.

The Abstinence Teacher exposes the powerful emotions that run beneath the surface of modern American family life and explores the complex spiritual and sexual lives of ordinary people.