EXCLUSIVE: Tim Burton will direct Christoph Waltz and Amy Adams in Big Eyes, the film that Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski scripted. At the same time, The Weinstein Company is closing a deal to fund and distribute. This is a major development on a project that has followed a long development track. Of all the development projects I’ve written about over the years, this is my favorite that has not yet gotten made. And the casting seems so promising.

Christoph Waltz, who’s coming off another Oscar turn in Django Unchained, and Adams, nominated for The Master, will play Margaret and Walter Keane, whose paintings of large eyed children became one of the first mass marketed art sensations in the 50s and 60s. Those prints sold in gas stations and every five and dime store across the country. While Walter was the marketing genius, he also took the bows for doing the brush work. He was a full fledged celebrity, a regular on the TV talk show circuit. His shy wife was the actual artist in the family. When they split and she tried to get her due, he painted her as being eccentric, and they ended up in court. There, a judge finally provided them with two easels and ordered them to prove it. Walter’s art reputation went down on the canvas when he begged off because of what he said was pain in his arm. She whipped up one of her trademark big-eyed works.

The screenwriters, Alexander and Karaszewski, worked with Burton previously on Ed Wood, and they wrote many other films including The People Vs. Larry Flynt. They’ve been pushing this one up the hill for years, with various filmmakers and casts. Most recently, they had intended to direct the film, and had Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Reynolds lined up as the leads. At that time, Burton was lined up as a producer, but now he has taken the directing reins.

TWC’s Harvey Weinstein and his team led by David Glasser are closing up on the deal as we speak. In the current configuration, the film will be produced by Alexander and Karaszewski with Electric City Entertainment’s Lynette Howell. Burton’s repped by WME, Waltz by ICM Partners, Adams by WME and Brillstein, Alexander and Karaszewski by CAA.

EXCLUSIVE: Krysten Ritter has joined Christoph Waltz and Amy Adams in Big Eyes. The Tim Burton-directed film is about Margaret and Walter Keane, the married couple whose paintings of large-eyed children became one of the first mass-marketed art sensations of the 1950s and ’60s. Adams plays the San Francisco housewife who actually generated the paintings. Her husband (Waltz) was a charismatic marketing wiz who went on talk shows claiming he was also responsible for the brush strokes. The movie is about how Margaret came out of her shell to try and claim the credit she deserved, after they split up. Ritter, most recently seen as the title character in Don’t Trust The B____ In Apt. 23 and in Breaking Bad, will play DeeAnn, the free-spirited confidante to Margaret who tries to coax her friend to come out of her shy shell. Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski wrote the script and The Weinstein Company is financing and distributing. Alexander, Karaszewski, Burton and Electric City Entertainment’s Lynette Howell are producing the film, which begins production this summer. Ritter is repped by WME, is co-managed by The Group Entertainment and Sanders Armstrong Caserta, and lawyered by Dave Feldman.

Jason Schwartzman has joined the cast of Tim Burton's "Big Eyes," the Weinstein Company drama that stars Amy Adams as painter Margaret Keane and Christoph Waltz as her husband Walter, who took credit for his wife's work while she toiled in obscurity.

Based on a true story, "Big Eyes" is being produced by Burton, Lynette Howell of Electric City Entertainment and screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, who previously worked with Burton on "Ed Wood."

Krysten Ritter is set to co-star as Margaret's free-spirited friend and confidante DeeAnn, while Schwarzmann will play a San Francisco art gallery owner named Ruben.

"Jason has been part of such a diverse list of intelligent, often whimsical films during his career and makes an exciting addition to this already fantastic cast," said TWC Co-Chairman Harvey Weinstein.

Schwartzman recently starred in Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" and wrapped the director's upcoming movie "The Grand Budapest Hotel." He'll soon be seen in Disney's "Saving Mr. Banks."

Schwartzman is repped by WME and attorney Warren Dern.

The Weinstein Company announced today that Terence Stamp has joined Christoph Waltz, Amy Adams, Danny Huston, Krysten Ritter and Jason Schwartzman in Big Eyes. The actor will play John Canaday, the elitist and exasperated senior art critic for the New York Times in the Tim Burton-directed film based on the life of painter Margaret Keane and her husband Walter, played by Adams and Waltz. Walter took credit for his wife’s work while she remained in the background. Burton is producing the film with Lynette Howell for Electric City Entertainment, Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. Alexander and Karaszewski wrote the screenplay for the project, on which they also are producers. Currently seen in Unfinished Song, Stamp is repped by Untitled Entertainment.

Walter Keane became a national celebrity and talk show fixture in the 1950s after he pioneered the mass production of prints of big-eyed kids, and used his marketing savvy to sell them cheaply in hardware stores and gas stations across the country. Unfortunately, he claimed to be the artist. That role was played by Margaret, his shy wife. She generated the paintings from their basement and Walter's contribution was adding his signature to the bottom. The ruse broke up their marriage, and when she tried to make it known that she authored the paintings, they ended up in a court battle after Walter called her crazy. The case culminated in a dramatic courtroom showdown. The judge put up two easels, side by side, and challenged each of them to start painting. He begged off, blaming a shoulder injury, while she dashed off her familiar big-eyed creation.