Jennifer Garner will play Kay Jenkins in ‘Fruitcake.’ (Photo via Karon Liu/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED, cropped from original version)
Earlier this month, Deadline announced Paul Walter Hauser and Jennifer Garner as the leads of “Fruitcake,” an upcoming film based on the 2016 exposé by Texas Monthly. Hauser and Garner play Sandy and Kay Jenkins, respectively, as they embezzle millions of dollars from Sandy’s employer, the Texas-based Collin Street Bakery.
The film is based on the 2016 Texas Monthly article “Just Desserts” by Katy Vine. The article chronicles Sandy’s insatiable desire to fit in with the wealthy families of Corsicana, Texas, which leads to embezzlement, an overly lavish lifestyle and eventual downfall.
The script, written by Texan native Trey Selman, was included in the 2016 Black List, which features the best unproduced screenplays of each year. Max Winkler, son of Henry Winkler and director of “Flower” and “Jungleland,” is also set to direct. Selman and Red Sanders of Texas-based Red Productions are attached as producers, and Collin Street Bakery president and CEO Bob McNutt, Texas Monthly’s president Scott Brown and executive producer of TV, film and podcasts Megan Creydt will serve as executive producers, along with Vine serving as a consultant.
The film was initially announced in 2019 by Deadline, with Laura Dern and Will Ferrell initially set to star. A release date for “Fruitcake” has not yet been announced.
Selman and Winkler are also teaming up to adapt another Texas Monthly story, with Winkler directing the pilot of Selman-written “King Rex.” This story is from the 1980 Texas Monthly article “Rex Cauble and the Cowboy Mafia” by Lawrence Wright. Additionally, Wright recently worked with Richard Linklater on the HBO miniseries “God Save Texas,” inspired by Wright’s book of the same name.
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