Noah Baumbach Leaving “The Emperor's Children” for Scott Cooper to Deal With

Never thought we'd see the day that Noah Baumbach would walk away from a film about privileged, over-educated young adults struggling to figure it all out, but here we are.

Baumbach has left the director's chair of "The Emperor's Children," a screenplay he'd adapted from Claire Messud's book of the same name, according to Twitch. The issue appears to be a scheduling conflict with the top-secret documentary Baumbach is making with Jake (brother of Gwyneth) Paltrow, and his subsequent film "While We're Young," starring Jesse Eisenberg, Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts.

Here's the synopsis for "Emperor's Children":

The Emperor’s Children is a richly drawn, brilliantly observed novel of fate and fortune—about the intersections in the lives of three friends, now on the cusp of their thirties, making their way--and not-- in New York City. In this tour de force, the celebrated author Claire Messud brings to life a city, a generation, and the way we live in this moment.

This sounds like it's right in Baumbach's wheelhouse, no? But if you can't get Baumbach, you turn to someone like Wes Anderson, right? Nope! You turn to Scott Cooper, whose sole directorial effort is "Crazy Heart," the country music drama that won Jeff Bridges an Oscar. We enjoyed "Crazy Heart," and have a world of respect for Cooper, who seems to be a genuinely bright, talented and nice guy, but he seems like an odd fit for this film.

Still, he's got a pretty good cast lined up, as Richard Gere and Keira Knightley have been joined by Rachel McAdams and Emma Thompson. "The Emperor's Children" is due to begin shooting in April 2012.

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