TV helmer Matthew Penn will make his feature directing debut with "The Root," a low-budget feature, reports Variety.
Written by Gary Richards based on his own play, will star David Strathairn, Gregory Hines, Karen Allen and Eli Wallach.
"The Root" is a Faustian story about a man who runs a chop shop, selling off parts from stolen cars. A relationship with a crooked police detective leads him to attempt to get out of the business, and that's where the trouble begins.
Penn helmed the regional theater production of "The Root." In the early 1990s, under the producer's association the Broadway Alliance, the play looked to be headed for Broadway and John Travolta and Samuel Jackson were approached to star in the lead roles. But the star package and production never materialized due to the Alliance's salary cap.
Shooting begins early next year in Gotham.