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Joel Schumacher's 'Twelve' Lines Up an Ensemble Cast

by Brandon Lee Tenney
April 6, 2009

Ensemble casts are hard things to put together - they need the right juxtapositions and complimenting personalities to breathe life into the equally contrasting characters on the page. When done well, the whole tapestry stands out in sharp relief. But when an ensemble cast fails, well, that never goes well. Joel Schumacher is next set to direct Twelve, written by Jordan Melamed and adapted from Nick McDonell's novel, which will feature quite the star-studded cast, as announced by Variety. Chace Crawford, Emma Roberts, Rory Culkin, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Ellen Barkin, and Kiefer Sutherland will star.

Twelve follows a high school dropout and his foray into dealing drugs and fall from that life of decadence when his cousin is murdered and his best friend is arrested for the crime. The novel was written by the then 17-year-old McDonnel and shined a brash light on teenage drug use and New York's Upper East Side decadence. Rory Culkin and Emma Roberts will be re-team again after their appearance in Lymelife, and Kiefer Sutherland will be appearing in his fourth Schumacher-directed film. This is Schumacher's latest studio feature since directing The Number 23 in 2007, which took quite a beating from critics.

Individually, this is a mostly-young, but strong cast. Though their characters haven't been revealed, it's pretty obvious as to who 50 Cent will be playing. It's also obvious as to who's the weakest link. Privileged teens behaving badly, it's all a bit "Gossip Girl," but the strong through-line makes this one to watch for sure. But can Schumacher bounce-back from the fetid pile that was Number 23? What do you think?

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