John Madden Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The first time I came across a trailer for the Diane Lane/Thomas Jane/Mickey Rourke hitman thriller Killshot (only remaining on an AICN archive page and the errant DVD release), it was back in September of 2006. Since then, the Elmore Leonard adaptation has endured reshoots in January of 2007 and countless changes in release dates after that. Of course, there's also at least three test screening reviews that bring to light the entire removal of a character played by Johnny Knoxville from the film.

Now, not long after the Weinstein Company issued its latest round of supposed scheduling, Killshot's most recent date -- November 7, 2008 -- has been dashed away by this Los Angeles Times piece, and as pointed out, how does one struggle to release anything that John Madden, Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack and Quentin Tarantino all had hands in at some point? How does one struggle to even sell off domestic distribution rights to a film with this cast and that crew? The obvious answer is, of course, that the film is a downright dud, though the general pedigree and harshest reviews seem to suggest that it's not a total turkey.

The best-case scenario at this point is that the film rides the awards buzz of Rourke's performance in December's The Wrestler as suggested and gets a theatrical release in the early winter dumping grounds (through the Weinsteins' Third Rail arm, I'd bet), while the worst-case scenario is the film being directly downgraded to the level of a Blockbuster-exclusive curio. We shall see...

Back in May, Miramax grabbed a spec for the remake of an Israeli thriller called The Debt. Matthew Vaughn, director of Layer Cake, wrote the adaptation along with writing partner Jane Goldman. But he wasn't interested in directing it himself, for whatever reason. Now it looks like the bunch of directors who were circling the project have been whittled down to one, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, the winner is John Madden, who is currently in negotiations. (The director, obviously, not the football man.)

This is definitely an interesting choice, but one that should suit the material well. In the past, Madden has brought us literary fare like Shakespeare in Love, but he's also the man behind Mrs. Brown, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Proof, and the new Elmore Leonard adaptation, Killshot.

To refresh your memories, this is the story of three Mossad agents who learn that an old Nazi criminal they had captured years ago is still alive. The problem is: The man had escaped their clutches, so they just claimed he committed suicide to save their skins. With the war criminal alive and ready to admit to his crimes, the agents set out to finish the job and save their reputations.

Actually, it's just a single image - and a boring one at that. But it's nevertheless proof that the movie is actually happening, which is something to hold on to. Directed by Oscar-nominee John Madden and executive-produced by Quentin Tarantino - aka the busiest person alive who isn't Joss Whedon - Killshot is based on an Elmore Leonard novel about a husband and wife who "become entangled in a scam with a bumbling small time con artist..and his over-the-hill hit man partner." The husband and wife are played by Thomas Jane and Diane Lane (no word on if their character names also rhyme), and the con men are a potentially interesting duo: Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Mickey Rourke.

Until I hear a flood of negative reports, I'm going to try to stay optimistic about this one - Tarantino's not in it after all, and both the cast and story have a lot of potential. In addition, Leonard's novels tend to be sharply written and very smart, though a lot depends on the adaptation. The film is currently in post-production, and is due for release in March of 2006.