Two movies with similar plots in development at the same time is nothing new in Hollywood, but two projects with similar plots and the exact same title could make things confusing and messy very quickly. This is exactly what’s going on with two projects titled Chef.
First, there was Jon Favreau’s film, which has Robert Downey Jr. attached, then reports of another project from director John Wells with Bradley Cooper surfaced. Now that both films are being sold to distributors at Cannes, it looks like one of these is going to have to get a new title.
Favreau’s film is the Iron Man director’s return to an indie project, although it will feature Downey, Sofia Vergara, John Leguizamo and Bobby Cannavale. Scarlett Johansson has also signed on, notes Variety. In that film, Favreau plays a chef who has been fired and starts a roadside food truck to restart his career.
The Cooper/Wells project is from The Weinstein Company and has Cooper as a Paris chef who has a meltdown and tries to revive his career by coming back to Paris sober. Deadline notes that Cooper has fully committed to the project, setting the stage for a title battle.
The site notes that Sony, which had a stake in the Wells/Cooper project, sent a cease and desist letter to Favreau, Fairview Entertainment and Aldamisa, which is selling the film at Cannes.
While Sony no longer has a stake in the Cooper/Wells project, Yahoo notes that the rights were transferred to TWC. Since Sony and TWC, by extension, already cleared the title with the MPAA, it looks like Favreau’s project is the one that will have to get a new title.
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