Once set to be a starring vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio and possible directorial effort from Paul Greengrass (and Oliver Stone before that), the adaptation of John D. MacDonald‘s The Deep Blue Good-By has undergone a switch-up. Deadline reports James Mangold, coming off The Wolverine and in the midst of preparing to helm a follow-up, has now stepped in to direct the project. Following around a beach bum who searches for lost property at a small fee, DiCaprio has stepped down from the lead role, but will still stay on as a producer. Scripted by the talented Dennis Lehane, hopefully we’ll get news of a replacement soon.
Moving on to slightly related news, after Martin Scorsese and producer DiCaprio recently proved that life of a Wall Street broker can translate to Hollywood dollars, other producers are jumping at a chance for the cut of the pie. Variety reports that Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook, John Q) has become attached to Carousel, which comes from a script by Alan Saretsky. It tells the writer’s personal story of his rise from New York City streets to a sole broker that excels to top figure on Wall Street. We can’t imagine the helmer will inject the same kind of craft that The Wolf of Wall Street has, but we’ll wait and see.
Next up, after acquiring the rights to the documentary festival hit Brooklyn Castle, which followed a poverty-stricken New York City junior high school on their journey of success at chess, Scott Rudin has set a producing and directing team on a narrative adaptation. According to Deadline, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg will produce the project for 50/50 writer Will Reiser and director Jonathan Levine, which sounds like a strong fit after they balanced comedy and drama in an against-the-odds story with that aforementioned project.
Lastly, after Ryan Gosling was looking to make it his directorial debut (before he actually did so with another forthcoming project, How to Catch a Monster), The Idolmaker has found a helmer. The remake of Taylor Hackford‘s Golden Globe-winning film about a famed music producer who takes on two young talents will be directed by Hustle & Flow helmer Craig Brewer. Already knowing the world of remakes with his new take on Footloose, Brewer will head up the project that’s being produced by Justin Timberlake, Variety reports, but no production timetable has been given.
Which project are you most looking forward to?