Caffeinated Clint
Say what you will about how he made it, one thing’s for sure McG likely has more money than you and I. Respect brother.
The “Charlie’s Angels” and “Terminator Salvation” director has never really popped our gum on anything of significant note but what he has done is somehow manage to put enough bums on seats for most of his films – particularly those “Angels” films and his lackluster “Terminator” movie – to solidify his sway in Hollywood.
The man, much like the equally-as-criticized Brett Ratner, has no less than half-a-dozen projects in development at one time. Like any filmmaker with a full plate, it’s not so much that they’re going to be doing all these films is it is keeping their options open – particularly since they’re unable to guess what a financier might click to (“Nah, nah, that one doesn’t sound our bag… but did you say you have a Terminator movie you’re developing? And with Schwarzenegger recreated on PhotoShop!? We want that! Can we have that!?” ).
Out promoting his action-comedy “This Mean’s War”, McG caught up with Collider and was probed on all things upcoming – or should I say, potentially upcoming. The filmmaker says he has the “Tink” movie with Elizabeth Banks firming up, has a “Die Hard”-esque project called “Puzzle Palace” on his to-do list, and is excited to get going on his film version of the Broadway musical “Spring Awakening”.
Here’s the summarized lowdown :
Spring Awakening
“It’s my version of Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story. I’m going to do it with a Baz Luhrmann take on artistic privilege and the manner in which it looks, because it’s 19th century Germany, but it’s today. I can’t wait to do it. I love the music, and I love the story, and I love the relatability. It’s basically youth against establishment, and there’s always room for that.”
Puzzle Palace
“Puzzle Palace, I like a lot. It’s a picture I might make next. That’s with David Guggenheim, who’s a fantastic screenwriter, just did a picture with Tony Scott. His brother is Mark Guggenheim. That’s my answer to Die Hard. I love pictures of that nature. It’s about a kid who has to restore his dad’s good name by breaking into 1 Police Plaza in New York, which is effectively the most secure building in the world after 9/11.”
Tink
“Tink is getting very healthy. There’s a great script that’s out at Disney. I’m producing it with Adam Shankman. Mary Viola, who runs my film division is doing it. We’ve got a great script we like, so we’re about to appeal to Sean Bailey and Rich Frost, who run things out there at Disney and see if they have an appetite for making it. It’s like Elf. I love those movies. Just imagine Tinkerbell in real life comes to our world.”
The Girl Who Conned the Ivy League
“That is getting a lot of momentum. That’s got Amanda Seyfried in it. It’s about a girl who reinvents herself. She’s a humble, humdrum girl who finally has enough. She reinvents herself and ends up attending an Ivy League school and dating the guy who’s a military cadet. She did so by stealing someone’s identity, and she never meant to cause any harm. But she realizes it’s very damaging. It’s a personal character study that I think Amanda is going to crush.”
Dead Spy Running
‘”Dead Spy Running we’re trying to get made out of Warner Bros. with Gaghan. Gaghan’s writing it, and we’re trying to get Gaghan to direct it. But he’s got scheduling stuff going on, and we have to get the script to a place where we’re ultimately going to make it, get the budget right. Listen, now more than ever it’s really tough to get a film properly greenlit and off the ground. There are a million ways for a film to fall apart, and very few for it to come together. But that is a spy story for this generation. It’s of the Social Network age. Imagine those kids in Zuckerberg’s room in The Social Network. One of them goes on to be a spy and uses his acumen of today’s world: DJ culture, Steve Jobs, the Apple store. Which I say with respect to Bond, Bourne, and Hunt, they don’t really know that world. But there’s a whole generation of kids that do. And what if a spy came from that place? Gaghan knows a lot about that world, so I’m hoping to get that done. That’s a huge priority.”
For more on McG’s slate, including which film’s he’s no longer attached to (“Terminator” fans will smile), click on over to Collider.
