Articles >> Variety, Sept. 13th 2010

Saoirse Ronan and James Gandolfini are toplining Violet and Daisy, Geoffrey Fletcher's tale of teenage hitgirls.

Fletcher, who won the adapted screenplay Oscar for Precious, is making his directing debut on the indie drama.

He's producing with Bonnie Timmermann, with shooting to start Sept. 27 in New York. Pic's financed and produced by Magic Violet/GreeneStreet Films; John Penotti of GreeneStreet exec produces and Steve Kempf co-produces.

Violet and Daisy centers on a pair of teenage assassins who are lured into what is supposed to be just another quick and easy job, only to find complications as the man (Gandolfini) they're supposed to kill is not whom they expected. Ronan is to play one of the hitgirls, and Gandolfini the target of the assassins.

"I wanted to make a film that was full of 'left turns,' " Fletcher said.

He began writing Violet and Daisy after completing his adaptation of Precious.

"I've been making films since the age of 14 and I'm trained as a director, so it feels like home yet, at the same time, a dream come true," he added.

Ronan will be seen next in Peter Weir's prison escape drama The Way Back and Joe Wright's Hanna.

Gandolfini stars with Melissa Leo and Kristin Stewart in Welcome to the Rileys. Timmermann, a veteran casting agent, has producing credits on Bug and The Last Word.

CAA, which represents Fletcher, Ronan and Gandolfini will handle the pic's North American distribution rights.

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