NEWS
11. 4, 06:
If I've been slow in returning e-mails, well, that's for two reasons: First, there's been a buttload of them, and second, I took a two-week sabbatical from writing – from writing anything -- and slipped away to Italy. I hooked up with some old friends over there, some as far back as high school, and we caroused around Florence a few days before slipping down south into Tuscany. Great time, great way to just empty the head of old ideas and let new ones in.
Anyway, I'm back in L.A. for the foreseeable future – and back on case with THE BREAK and THE BRAZILIAN JOB and THE WOULD-BE WARRIOR and….
6.27.05
FORUM UP AND RUNNING
So over the last few months, a few of you have asked for a message board that would allow fans or just like-minded people to interact. Well, you asked, I delivered. (Actually, Joe Dean delivered – he's the guy who pulled it together.) So just click and “Forum” and opine away.
6.1.05
THREE NEW ONES
What can I say? When it rains, sometimes it really fuckin' rains.
I've got three new projects to tell you about, all of which came knocking about the same time, and I liked them all so much I just couldn't say no.
THE BREAK is a science-fiction adventure set on Earth in the immediate future - as in "10 weeks from now." The producer, Doug Wick (GLADIATOR) is a big fan of the classic escape films of the '50s and '60s, movies like STALAG 17, THE GREAT ESCAPE, COOL HAND LUKE. Doug felt the time was right to re-introduce the genre to a new audience, and he sparked to the idea of using aliens as "the new Germans."
I'm 100 pages into the script, and it's shaping up as a really strong piece. I'll do a couple drafts, then help Columbia find the right director. (No, I don't want to direct sci-fi right after RIDDICK.) But I'll tell you right now...
This one's gonna be wicked good. THE BREAK will be produced for Columbia by Red Wagon Productions.
And then there are the two Paramount movies...
I'm also hard at work writing THE BRAZILIAN JOB. In case you think that sounds a little too close to THE ITALIAN JOB, rest easy: BRAZILIAN JOB is the sequel. I liked THE ITALIAN JOB a lot (talking about the 2003 remake), thought F. Gary Gray brought style and energy to what could've been a formulaic exercise in film redux.
We're expecting all the original heisters to return - well, at least I'm putting them all in the script. One of the tricks with sequels is to find a new dynamic for the characters so they aren't replaying the same scenes only in new scenery...so the filmmakers aren't remaking a remake. As a writer, you have to remember that the characters weren't waiting around in pickle jar until the day you decided to spill them out; they were busy living in your absence: They were growing, trying, failing, winning, losing, moving on.
And oh, yeah: You gotta have some really fine twists and turns if you're doing a heist movie. Being an -ophile of films like RAFFIFI, TOPKAPKI (also by Jules Dassin but not as credible as RAFIFI), HOW TO STEAL A MILLION (a good rom-com, too, and Audrey Hepburn in her absolute most belle-époque moment), GAMBIT, and THIEF, I've got some good working paradigms in my head.
Donald DeLine and John Goldwyn will produce for Paramount. Actors' schedules are always tricky, but with any luck this project should be filming in Spring of 2006.
And the last tidbit on this project? I'm writing a role for Bill Gates. Yeah. That Bill Gates.
And finally there's THE WOULD-BE WARRIOR. This is an original script of mine that Paramount and Nickleodeon just picked up. It's a fantasy adventure in the JUMANJI vein, involving a modern 15-year-old boy who finds himself caught in a centuries-old feud between Norse gods. Good crazy-ass fun.
I'll direct WOULD-BE WARRIOR myself, since it's near and dear. Julia Pistor (LEMONEY SNICKET) of Nicklelodeon will produce for Paramount, and Camille Brown will Associate Produce. I expect to be in pre-production just as soon as I finish up with the writing gigs, probably in early 2006.
I've even included three pieces of key art for your enjoyment. Oh, the things I do for you guys...
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More as more develops.
DT
12.12.04
If I don't get back to your emails in the next two weeks, I've got a perfectly good excuse – I'll be sailing through the Galapagos archipelago, helping to solidify Darwin’s “theory” into fact since, apparently, a lot of America still isn't sure about that whole Scopes Trial thing that happened a few years ago in Tennessee. I'll also be reading Richard Dawkins “A River out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life.” Dawkins is one of the great critical thinkers of our time, and his “Selfish Gene” is a startling book that makes you realize much of what you've been taught in life – from religion to biology -- will need some serious re -thinking. If you haven't read it, do so at once. That’s your assignment until I get back.
DT
11.14.04
Well, that promise of updating “every two or three weeks” didn’t pan out, did it? Just been busy putting the final touches on the Director’s Cut of RIDDICK while finishing up the new scripts.
Took my vacation in Paris where I staged a surprise birthday party for my wife on the Eiffel Tower – a truly special night that a lot of us will never forget. If any of you get the chance to dine at the Jules Verne restaurant, do it. The next night, a lovely balmy eve, the whole gang took a dinner cruise on the River Seine, motoring slowly under all the great bridges of Paris, including the memorable Alexander III. Anyway, it was hard to turn my attention back to work after that. You understand.
The Director’s Cut of RIDDICK is shipping right now, and I’m pretty pleased with the way it turned out. Universal left me alone during the editing – after this one caveat: “No more visual effects!” Translation: “Don’t spend more money!” Unfortunately, I really wanted to reinclude the Shiráh character (played by Kristen Lehman), and she was always a visual effect. Rhythm and Hues was good enough to comp these shots gratis for me, and that’s how I managed to reinstate this important character – Riddick’s muse – back into the movie.
Some of you who haven’t been scared off by the warning in the “Contact” section have e-mailed me over the last few months – and I must say, it’s cool to get missives from fans in Russia and Japan and Eastern Europe and elsewhere. It makes me remember the power of film. And the reach.
Next project should be set up shortly. You’ll be the second to know.
DT
8.3.04
Hey, everybody.
Currently back in the editing room working on the Director’s Cut of RIDDICK, restoring about 15 minutes of footage that I took out for MPAA and other reasons. (We released as PG-13, but this new DVD will go out “UNRATED.”) Look for it to drop mid-November.
Aside from this, I’m busy reading scripts the studios send over while writing two of my own: One is a thriller set in Hawaii, and the other is a juvenile fantasy set in modern-day Pacific Northwest. Can’t tip my hand more than that, but both are exciting in different ways.
And though I love science fiction, I’m trying not to do it every time out the gate. Still, there’re a couple awfully tempting genre projects out there, one at Dreamworks and another at Fox. How will it all shake out? Right now, your guess is as good as mine.
Check back later. I’ll try to update every two or three weeks.
DT
6.8.04
"RIDDICK opens June 11. Not coincidentally, that’s the same day I go on vacation."
DT