Waking the Dead (2012)

Once Foster signed on as exec producer, one pressing duty was to wrest the '70s-and-'80s drama -- about an aspiring politician (Crudup) who begins to wonder whether his deceased activist girlfriend (Connelly) may actually be alive -- away from Warner Bros., which envisioned it as a big-budget film. Instead, the scaled-down ''Waking'' set ended up mirroring the film's '70s mentality. ''It could've been a cult retreat for all I know,'' says Crudup. '''Yeah, man, that was cool. Yeah, let's try some more of that.' There was almost no pressure.''

Despite a high-profile Sundance 2000 premiere, USA Films will need glowing reviews to breathe life into what can only be termed a labor of love. Says Crudup, ''This wasn't the sort of $60 million movie where people are hanging out in their trailer and nobody gives a s--- except the producers.'' BUZZ FACTOR: 3

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