'Solitary Man' Helmers Talk Michael Douglas, Jesse Eisenberg and 'Rounders 2'

Solitary Man's directing duo of Brian Koppelman and David Levien are tight-lipped about the announcement that star Michael Douglas has cancer, but they are quick to recount a story about the Oscar-winner noticing something special about co-star Jesse Eisenberg.

Eisenberg, who is already generating buzz for his performance as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, is often criticized for playing the same neurotic, virginal teen in every film. According to Koppelman and Levien, Douglas saw much more range.

"I remember after the first scene that Michael and Jesse had together, Michael turned around and came up to the two of us and just said, 'Man, that kid's got it. He's so alive. He's so present,'" says Koppelman. "Michael was really jazzed about finding a young kid who clearly cared that much and had those kind of acting chops."

Solitary Man has won Douglas rave reviews, and considering that it's largely about an aging man coming to terms with his own mortality it's bound to take on a new resonance when it hits DVD/Blu-ray on September 7.

The Anchor Bay release is a prime example of how smaller films are still able to find an audience while living in the shadows of blockbusters. After opening to $94,936 on only four screens on May 21, Solitary Man hung around in theaters for 16 weeks during the height of the summer season. It ended its theatrical run with a modest $4.3 million, and now more viewers are bound to discover it on home-viewing platforms.

"There's clearly still a hunger to discover smaller films. This summer there were a bunch of indie releases that did really well and it shows that even in the high season of tentpoles people still want to see alternatives," says Koppelman. "That's heartening to us. We like the occasional tentpole, but we also like intense indie dramas."

While Solitary Man is a huge step forward for Koppelman and Levien, they are still best know for penning the script to 1998's Rounders. The poker flick became a huge cult hit and it's a film that all serious poker players still quote religiously. There has been talk of doing a sequel, but the duo won't give any false hope.

"Everybody involved with that movie would love to find a way to credibly further the story, but none of us are going to trample on the memory of it and what that movie means to people," says Koppelman. "It's as alive as it needs to be and I think the moment that we all feel like there's a compelling enough story we'll all go make it, but that just hasn't happened yet."

Koppelman and Levine are presently scripting a film about the online gaming industry that Leonardo DiCaprio is attached to.

"It's not something that's ready to go before cameras anytime soon, but we're heavily into it," says Levien.