patchwork
08-10-2008, 19:00
Cronenberg To Direct The Matarese Circle
Robert Ludlum thriller starring Denzel Washington
Beverly Hills Cop. Top Gun. Flashdance. What do these films have in common? Yes, they were all produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson. But they were also offered to David Cronenberg to direct.
If you can’t quite figure out why someone who’s seen The Brood or Videodrome or Shivers or Rabid would offer the professorial Canadian director a wham-bam movie about a maverick fighter pilot, neither could he. ‘Thanks, but no thanks’ came the response, and Cronenberg went about doing his own, brilliantly twisted, thang.
But Hollywood kept trying. A couple of years, Cronenberg came this close to directing Basic Instinct 2, for example, while we’re sure there have been offers we haven’t been privy to. We wouldn’t be surprised if Bruckheimer pursues his man, even to this day (can you imagine David Cronenberg’s National Treasure?)
But, perhaps encouraged that his last two movies, A History Of Violence and Eastern Promises were, superficially at least, excellent thrillers, MGM has offered Cronenberg the directing gig on a big-budget Denzel Washington Cold War thriller, The Matarese Circle.
And, lo and behold, at long bleedin’ last, Cronenberg has said ‘yes’.
The movie is based, like the Bourne movies, on a Robert Ludlum novel, about an American agent who must team up with his Soviet counterpart to thwart a plot to topple the world’s governments. Washington – who, with all due respect to Jude Law, Viggo Mortensen and Jeff Goldblum, is automatically the biggest star Cronenberg has worked with – will play the American agent in the movie.
Michael Brandt and Derek Haas wrote the script, which we’re guessing played a large part in attracting Cronenberg. After all, he’s resisted paycheque gigs in the past, so why start now?
The project has been fast-tracked at MGM, with filming set to start next Spring. And we can’t wait to see what happens when Cronenberg’s offbeat sensibilities finally collide with the Hollywood machine.
Robert Ludlum thriller starring Denzel Washington
Beverly Hills Cop. Top Gun. Flashdance. What do these films have in common? Yes, they were all produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson. But they were also offered to David Cronenberg to direct.
If you can’t quite figure out why someone who’s seen The Brood or Videodrome or Shivers or Rabid would offer the professorial Canadian director a wham-bam movie about a maverick fighter pilot, neither could he. ‘Thanks, but no thanks’ came the response, and Cronenberg went about doing his own, brilliantly twisted, thang.
But Hollywood kept trying. A couple of years, Cronenberg came this close to directing Basic Instinct 2, for example, while we’re sure there have been offers we haven’t been privy to. We wouldn’t be surprised if Bruckheimer pursues his man, even to this day (can you imagine David Cronenberg’s National Treasure?)
But, perhaps encouraged that his last two movies, A History Of Violence and Eastern Promises were, superficially at least, excellent thrillers, MGM has offered Cronenberg the directing gig on a big-budget Denzel Washington Cold War thriller, The Matarese Circle.
And, lo and behold, at long bleedin’ last, Cronenberg has said ‘yes’.
The movie is based, like the Bourne movies, on a Robert Ludlum novel, about an American agent who must team up with his Soviet counterpart to thwart a plot to topple the world’s governments. Washington – who, with all due respect to Jude Law, Viggo Mortensen and Jeff Goldblum, is automatically the biggest star Cronenberg has worked with – will play the American agent in the movie.
Michael Brandt and Derek Haas wrote the script, which we’re guessing played a large part in attracting Cronenberg. After all, he’s resisted paycheque gigs in the past, so why start now?
The project has been fast-tracked at MGM, with filming set to start next Spring. And we can’t wait to see what happens when Cronenberg’s offbeat sensibilities finally collide with the Hollywood machine.