WhiteyBulger Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Whitey Bulger Gets His Own Movie
Filed under: Drama », Deals », Scripts »
Whitey Bulger has been around the cinematic block. In 2006, the story of associate John "Red" Shea was picked up for the feature treatment, by Mark Wahlberg, who then went on to star in a different Whitey-influenced film, The Departed. This past December word hit that another associate, John Martorano, was picked for a film. Inevitably, we're led to this moment, and Variety's news that Whitey is finally getting a film to call his very own.Jim Sheridan, the man behind My Left Foot and In America, will be adapting the Bulger biography Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob with Nye Heron, and then direct it. This book has actually been floating around Hollywood for a while now. It was originally optioned by Miramax for Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, then picked up by producer Brian Oliver, who had to wait for The Departed to come and go.
One of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted, and a focus of America's Most Wanted a whopping 14 times, James "Whitey" Bulger led the Irish-American Winter Hill Gang in Boston -- getting busy with drug trafficking, murder, and all that gangster stuff. As Sheridan describes it: "This is a story of a corrupt system and about how an angry guy became the second most wanted man after Bin Laden." Presented by a man with the talents of Sheridan -- the project has promise, and should definitely give Martorano a run for his money.
Are you ready for more dips into the world of Whitey?
News Bites: Zooming Musicals and Murderous Mobsters
Filed under: Drama », Music & Musicals », Deals », Scripts »
We've got another music-themed film on the way, and this time it isn't based on an old movie or musical. Variety reports that Universal and Imagine have tapped Preston Whitmore (This Christmas) to write and direct a new music extravaganza called Zoom. Normally, I'd be happy to hear of a story that's not re-telling, re-vamping, re-imagining, re-whatevering, but this one sounds a bit like another music-themed film on the front-burner. Zoom focuses on "a troubled West Virginia youth who attends a music academy and finds his voice and a place in the world." I'm betting this is aimed to grab some of Fame's buzz.Meanwhile, Variety also reports that Hollywood is taking another stab at James "Whitey" Bulger -- GK Films has picked up the life rights of John Martorano. He was a killer for the mob, taking the lives of 20 people. "After he discovered his compatriots, including Bulger, were government informants all along, Martorano became a government witness who exposed corruption and collusion between the mob and the Boston office of the FBI."
Now we just have to wait and see how long until Mark Wahlberg signs up. He was part of The Departed, which took cues from Bulger, and he bought the rights to the story of another Whitey associate back in 2006. That one didn't go anywhere, so maybe Martorano is the key to film fruition.
Whitey Bulger Victims Upset Over 'Departed' Portrayal
Filed under: Action », Drama », Thrillers », Warner Brothers », Remakes and Sequels »
I thought The Departed was fiction, but apparently it is actually "revisionist history." At least, that is the opinion of a man who won't go to see the Oscar-winning film. There are a number of people who are like him, too, who are avoiding the picture because of its "glorified" depiction of real-life Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger. These people are the families of Bulger's victims and they each have their accusations. One man says the filmmakers are cashing in on the story while another claims the film displays "hero worship" for Bulger. One even claims the film protects the still-at-large criminal. Never mind the fact that The Departed is a remake of a Hong Kong film or the complete absence of any claim that the film is based on a true story, Bulger's or anyone else's, and these people have a point. But really, they have no reason to be angry at Warner Bros. because they feel exploited by the film.It is certainly evident that Jack Nicholson's character, Frank Costello, is loosely based on Bulger, but according to Martin Scorsese, the basis is only enough to make the film's gangster seem true. It doesn't help his case, however, to include a documentary about Bulger on the special edition DVD in the first place. Following two historically based films that were criticized enough for their revisions, Scorsese could have distanced himself as much as possible from making any link to true stories, but he didn't because he shouldn't have to. He makes movies, not textbooks. If Warner Bros. makes him apologize for any of this, we should all complain even louder. Maybe the studio would even apologize to us for being so apologetic.
Marky Mark Buys the Rights to Rat Bastards
Filed under: Drama », Thrillers », Deals », RumorMonger »
The Boston Globe gets the scoop on what actors
from that city are up to more consistently than any other news source - it's as if they have a Batphone that goes right
to a special Beantown cell shared by Matt Damon, Mark
Wahlberg, and Ben
Affleck, or something. A month or so again, they were the first to report on all the Afflecks in Gone, Baby, Gone, and they're first again today
with news about Wahlberg buying the movie rights to a Boston-based memoir. The book in question is Rat
Bastards: The Life and Times of South Boston's Most Honorable Irish Mobster, which tells the story of John
"Red" Shea, a Whitey Bulger associate who spent his 12 years in prison (on drug charges) as "a sort of
'gangster priest,' counseling men ten and twenty years his senior to stay strong and not to rat on their friends."
That, at least, is what Wahlberg wrote in his introduction to the book, so it has to be true.There's no mention in the article of what Wahlberg hopes to do with the rights, specifically if it's a project in which he'd like to star. (His reps also refused to confirm the story, but come on - it's the Globe! The know all.)
[via IGN]
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