Fox Searchlight has acquired the rights to The Way, Way Back, a comedy-drama written and directed by Oscar-winning writers Nat Faxon and Jim Rash for $9.75 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It’s the first movie directed by Faxon and Rash, who won Academy Awards last year for co-writing The Descendants but are better known for playing Ben on Ben and Kate and Dean Pelton on Community, respectively. The Way, Way Back is about a pivotal summer in the life of a teenage boy (Liam James) as he forms a relationship with the manager of a rundown waterpark (Sam Rockwell) and tries to find the strength to stand up to his bullying stepfather (Steve Carell) and reconnect with his mother (Toni Collette). Allison Janney, Rob Corddry, Amanda Peet, and Maya Rudolph also star. The Way, Way Back debuted to a warm reception at Sundance this weekend and was the subject of a heated bidding war, with Fox Searchlight, who also released The Descendants, winning out. Jim Rash continues to be every bit as competent as a writer/director as Dean Pelton is as a Dean.
