"The Big Bang Theory" star Johnny Galecki is in final negotiations to play Justin Timberlake's best friend in Andrew Niccol's newly-retitled sci-fi thriller "Now," according to the Hollywood Reporter.
20th Century Fox is distributing the New Regency project (formerly known as "I'm.mortal"), which is set in a society where aging stops at 25 and time has become the currency. The rich are immortal, while the rest struggle to stay alive.
Timberlake stars as a rebel from the ghetto who is falsely accused of murdering a wealthy man for his time. He's forced to go on the run with a beautiful hostage (Amanda Seyfried), and together they battle the system as they struggle to stay alive.
Cillian Murphy co-stars as a ruthless law enforcement officer tracking the duo, and Collins Pennie will play his right-hand man.
"Tron Legacy" star Olivia Wilde will play Timberlake's mother despite being 3 years younger than him in real life, while "Mad Men's" Vincent Kartheiser will play Seyfried's powerful father.
Likewise, Galecki will play a screw-up of a father who has a drinking problem and wastes all of his family's excess time.
I've followed Galecki's whirlwind career since I was a kid, when I first noticed him as Chevy Chase's son in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation." He parlayed his success on "Roseanne" into small roles in "Suicide Kings" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer" before hitting paydirt with "The Big Bang Theory," which plays to his strengths as an actor.
Galecki has also appeared alongside Tom Cruise in "Vanilla Sky" and Will Smith in "Hancock" but "Now" is the first major role Galecki has landed since his CBS sitcom debuted in 2007.
Strike Entertainment's Eric Newman and Marc Abraham are producing the "Logan's Run"-esque project with Kristel Laiblin and Andrew David. Production is scheduled to begin at the end of the month.
Galecki is represented by CAA and Untitled Entertainment.
