Monday, May 14, 2007

The Chicago Way

The "best" actor ever to grace the the big screen continues to find work:

Michael Fleming and Pamela McClintock of Variety:



Nicolas Cage [pictured] is negotiating to star in Brian De Palma's prequel "The Untouchables: Capone Rising" for Relativity Media and Paramount Pictures.

Art Linson, who produced De Palma's original "The Untouchables [film]," is producing. All sides stressed that discussions with Cage are ongoing.

Brian Koppelman and David Levien penned the script, which follows Chicago mob boss Al Capone's rise to power and his relationship with police detective and nemesis Jimmy Malone.

Relativity is helping to finance the $70 million prequel, which Par would distribute domestically. Project is being shopped at Cannes.

Cage, who is in theaters with "Next," is shooting the Disney sequel "National Treasure: Book of Secrets."

Forgetting that Cage is attached to the film for a sec, I can't help but think of this project as an attempt to recapture past glory. Don't get me wrong, the original film is worthy of the "classic" moniker-but do we really need to fill in the backstory of these characters? Think Carlito's Way: Rise to Power--A direct to video prequel of, ironically enough, another De Palma flick-Carlito's Way...Totally unnecessary in my opinion. As for Cage--I can't see him being able to fill Robert De Niro shoes as a younger Capone--Ugh--Snake Eyes revisited...

No comments: