Metanoia Films has picked up director Alejandro Gomez Monteverde's Little Boy, starring Kevin James, Ben Chaplin, Emily Watson and David Henrie.

Budgeted at $24 million, Little Boy is a family drama set in small-town America in the early days of WWII. The film revolves around an 8-year-old with developmental problems. His only friend is his father, and with his departure to war, the troubled boy is forced to confront the cruelty of schoolmates and others. Jakob Salvati plays the lead child role.

Production will begin in Baja California at the end of August and will open in theaters sometime in 2012. The film will also shoot in Rosarito beach, Ensenada, Tijuana and Tecate.