stephen gaghan Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Tony Scott Rides with 'Hell's Angels'
Filed under: Drama », Scripts », Newsstand »
Just because Tony Scott decided to put the brakes on his A L I E N prequel, doesn't mean that he won't have plenty of projects to keep him busy in the meantime. For starters; there's his Warriors update, a sequel to his 1983 vampire flick, The Hunger, and the action flick Unstoppable with Chris Pine starting this fall. But that's not all, because now the director has been talking about an adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's non-fiction classic, Hell's Angels. In an interview with Coming Soon, Scott confirmed that Traffic's Stephen Gaghan has already been hired to write the script, and while Scott claims to own the rights to Thompson's book, there is still confusion over what Gaghan will be using for the script. According to the "motorcycle club's" legal counsel, Scott's film will be based on the book, Hell's Angels: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club -- but my guess is that the script will be a blending of the two books.The Wild One may have brought bikers into the popular consciousness, but by the time the 60's hit, clubs like The Hell's Angels were a status symbol for the counter-culture. Thompson's book was one of the first accurate looks inside the 'gang', but was a far cry from his usual 'gonzo' work. Which isn't necessarily the best fit for the kind of flashy action movie you expect from Scott, but luckily Gaghan has a knack for making sense of complicated subject matter. There is no word yet on whether Scott will just produce, or whether he will direct the film as well. But, the Scott brothers seem to have a thing for packing their schedules, and unfortunately, they tend to bite off a little more than they can chew.
After the jump; updates on Tony Scott's other projects...
Gaghan to Adapt 'Dead Spy Running'
Filed under: Action », Thrillers », Deals »
It was last October when McG decided to enter the spy biz with the upcoming Dead Spy Running. It's a story that might not be giving us a female spy to go up against the likes of Bond and Bourne (boo!), but we will get a story from a man who not only knows The Rules of Engagement, but also how to navigate the Traffic in Syriana. Yes, The Hollywood Reporter posts that the pen behind those films, Stephen Gaghan, will adapt Jon Stock's novel (which hits shelves this June).This bodes quite well for the film, which is being touted as a potential trilogy that will reinvent the spy genre. What could possibly reinvent it? Apparently, an origin story about a newly trained spy. That sounds nothing like reinvention and a heck of a lot like Daniel Craig's Bond, but at least the circumstances are different. Some word about the story has finally come out, and it will kick off with a protagonist "running the London Marathon, where a fellow racer is strapped with explosives." Somehow this leads the unnamed dude on a "globe-trotting adventure" to clear the name of the poor runner's dad.
So far, nothing sounds like a big reboot of the spy genre, but maybe the magic comes in the details.
If you were trying to spark up the spy genre, what would you do?
Not Shaken or Stirred -- In a Green Bottle
Filed under: Action », Deals », New Releases », MGM », Sony », Movie Marketing », James Bond », Remakes and Sequels »
I might have gone with Red Stripe, myself, or maybe even an English brewery, but Heineken, which is based in Amsterdam, is the chosen beer sponsor for the new Bond pic, Casino Royale. Wait, let's back track a second. You're probably wondering why there would even be a beer sponsor when James Bond famously drinks martinis, shaken not stirred. Well, in Ian Fleming's original novel, he drinks beer. Yes, he also drinks martinis, but in the novel he orders one by saying, "A dry martini. One. In a deep champagne goblet." He goes on to tell the bartender how to make it, including the shaking part, but otherwise the catch phrase didn't arrive until the later novel Diamonds are Forever. Anyway, back to the subject of beer, which is definitely a subject I prefer. Aside from Heineken merely having a promotional partnership with the film (I have no idea if this means Bond drinks Heinies on screen), the brewery has been given access to the Casino Royale set, where Oscar-winner Stephen Gaghan has directed a beer commercial starring Bond-girl Eva Green.
Unfortunately, Heineken will not be remaking James Bond's 007 Special Blend (oh JoBlo, you had me so confused!), which was a mix of beer and malt liquor put out by The National Brewing Company between 1965 and 1966 without any licensing authorization.
George Clooney Wins in Syriana Lawsuit
Filed under: Scripts », Newsstand », George Clooney »
I love when judges throw out cases that are completely ridiculous. (It always reminds me of when a judge threw out the "hit and run" charges I was facing for accidentally putting a ding in a co-worker's prized Camarro.) Not so similar, but not that dissimilar either, is the case just thrown out by a French court. Screenwriter Stephanie Vergniault was attempting to sue Warner Bros., writer-director Stephen Gaghan and Section Eight, the production company of George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh, because she claimed Gaghan's film Syriana had plagiarized her own script about the CIA and the Persian Gulf oil industry, written in 2002.
The judge called the scripts "obviously different," and declared the similarity in focus between the two "coincidental". Vergniault had absolutely no case, it seems, and couldn't even provide requested proof of her claim that she had sent the script to a Canadian company linked to Warner Bros. Let this be a lesson to you fledgling screenwriters so you don't waste precious court time and, more importantly, also make fools of yourselves: Not only did Vergniault not get her desired $2.5 million, but now she will likely never get a legitimate deal, either.
Syriana screenplay not an adaptation after all
Filed under: Action », Drama », Thrillers », Awards », Mystery & Suspense », Scripts », George Clooney », Oscar Watch », Trophy Hysteric »
Stephen Gaghan's screenplay for Syriana was based on a combination of
independent research and Robert Baer's memoir, See No Evil: The
True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism. In Gaghan's mind (as well as those the Writers Guild
of America, who nominated the film in the adapted category, and of the folks at USC, who give out their Scripter award to the
year's best adapted screenplay), his work relied on Baer's book enough to render it an adaptation, and Baer received
screen credit. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, however, thinks otherwise, and has listed
Syriana as an original screenplay on its ballots. Though the decision to make the switch was reportedly made
last month, no one bothered to tell Gaghan, who's a little nonplussed. "I'm in shock," he said. "I have
no idea how they make these decisions."Capote, Syriana in Scripter tie
Filed under: Drama », Romance », Thrillers », Awards », Oscar Watch », Trophy Hysteric »
The USC Scripter award, given to the year's best screenplay
"adapted from a literary source," is seen as a good indicator of what of screenplay is likely to take the
Oscar home in the adapted category (last year, for example, Million Dollar Baby won both). This year, however, nervous studios
will have to wait just a little longer to find out who's in the lead: there was a tie. Dan Futterman's adaptation of Gerald Clarke's Truman Capote biography, and Stephen
Gaghan's screenplay for Syriana -
adapted from See No Evil, by Robert Baer - have the same
number of votes; a winner will be determined in a runoff vote on Wednesday. As the Guardian article linked below points out, whether it wins or not, this is more good news for Capote, which continues to gain ground on presumed Oscar front runner Brokeback Mountain. That said, of course, we'll know a whole lot more about who's really in the lead by this time tomorrow, after the Golden Globes have been handed out.
Is Stephen Gaghan insane?
Filed under: Drama », Thrillers », Politics »
Syriana's globe-trotting shoot had the crew
hopping from "locales ranging from Baltimore and Washington to Geneva and Casablanca, [and] working in five
languages over 74 days." When it came time to shoot scenes set in the unspecified Arab nation at the center of the
script, the production travelled to Dubai, a journey that required the approval of the country's royal family, which was
granted, then taken away, and then reinstated by intelligence officials within the United Arab Emirates. Whilst chasing
a specific shot involving "all these guys who looked like Berber smugglers; they had machine guns and pistols
and they were on these huge camels" (it was eventually cut from the film), writer/director Stephen Gaghan
accidentally led his crew into the region of Oman, where they were, um, unwelcome. They encountered a band of Omani
soldiers, who scoffed at the production's paperwork and ordered them to turn around and go back to Dubai.Gaghan has been endlessly flogging his oil conspiracy thriller since mid-November, and since, in most cases, this seems to involve giving interviews that are as sprawling, convoluted and tediously lengthy as the film itself, it seems odd that he's just getting around to telling everyone about the alleged "international incident" he sparked whilst shooting the picture. Even odder, check out this bon mot he tossed off, which reporter Borys Kit used to close the piece: "It was exciting to bring a big Western movie there in these times." A pretty gooey softball for a self-styled international rabblerouser, ce n'est pas?
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