Andrew Garfield is set to join Jessica Chastain in Fox Searchlight’s televangelist drama The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Collider has confirmed.
Michael Showalter (The Big Sick) is set to direct from a script by Abe Sylvia (Dirty Girl), and the film is based on Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato‘s acclaimed documentary of the same name. Chastain and Kelly Carmichael will produce via their Freckle Films banner along with Gigi Pritzker and Rachel Shane of Madison Wells Media. Showalter’s producing partner, Jordana Mollick (Hello, My Name is Doris) will serve as an executive producing.
Garfield and Chastain will play Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, who were televangelists who in the 1970s and ’80s rose from humble beginnings to create the world’s largest religious broadcasting network and a theme park. The duo were revered for their message of love, acceptance and prosperity, but it wasn’t long before financial improprieties, scheming rivals, and a sex scandal tore their marriage apart and toppled their carefully constructed empire.
Garfield is coming off of Under the Silver Lake, which fizzled at the box office but will surely live on as a cult classic in certain corners of Film Twitter. The former Amazing Spider-Man star recently won a Tony for his work on Broadway in Angels in America. He also recently signed on to play pianist James Marsh in the indie drama Instrumental, which is being sold at Cannes.
Chastain next stars in X-Men: Dark Phoenix and It: Chapter Two, which unveiled its first trailer on Thursday. She has also wrapped Tate Taylor‘s upcoming revenge film Eve.
Best known for directing The Big Sick, Showalter recently wrapped the upcoming Paramount comedy The Lovebirds starring Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae. He’s already working with Chastain in a holiday comedy for Universal that will co-star Octavia Spencer.
CAA represents Garfield and Chastain, who’s also repped by Mosaic. Showalter is repped by UTA and Artists First. The news was first reported by Variety.