Broadway Jake

If Michael Riedel of the New York Post has any idea what he's talking about, Jake Gyllenhaal is confirmed to star in "Farragut North" on Broadway. This is a good news, bad news article, the only bad news being that the play is set to open "in the midst of the presidential election next fall." We were originally expecting to see it some time this fall, which then became "winter of 2008."

The good news, apart from Jake's being cast, is that much-respected director Mike Nichols has "quietly wrested ["Farragut North"] away from Second Stage, the off-Broadway company that was to have presented it later this year." Wait, it gets better.

Written by Beau Willimon (who worked on Dean's 2004 campaign), "Farragut North" is a hot property right now, with George Clooney and Matt Damon having snapped up the film rights.

Please, fates, gods, whatever entities are out there, perhaps benign, perhaps scary and Lovecraftian, please let all of this be true.

Update: Now we've got Playbill in on the act, and instead of serving as a reassuring confirmation, they've titled their article as a question: "Will Nichols Direct Country Girl and Farragut North for Broadway?" Why must you torture me in this fashion? If you read the text without regard for that silly question mark, it sounds all in the bag. I need to know now if I must begin saving money for a New York trip in 2008, or I can continue spending frivolously on multiple DVD releases of Jake's movies.

Photos: IHJ, All Stars Online.