Len Wiseman Goes Apocalyptic
And the Hollywood Reporter Editors Goes Apopolectic /
Dustin Rowles
Trade News | November 10, 2009 | Comments (10)
There are 4,000 projects currently in development in Hollywood, and the same 10 directors are attached to them all. I don’t really understand it; rather than attempt to develop new talent or spread some of the higher-profile gigs around, studios keep attaching these same 10 directors to the projects, knowing good and goddamn well that for every three or four projects on a director’s plate, he’s only going to do one. It takes at least a year to make a movie, and during that time, new projects are added onto a director’s plate, while others fall onto the floor, and hardly anything ever gets eaten.
One of those directors that’s currently sticking his paws into everything is Len Wiseman, who now officially has more projects in development (six and counting) than he has ever directed (3, including Live Free and Die Hard and Underworld). His latest, apparently, is Nocturne, an end-of-the-world thriller currently seeking writers.
But this post is not entirely about Nocturne; it’s also about the effect that cutbacks have had on the print trades. Here’s the article, in full, posted on The Hollywood Reporter:
Len Wiseman to direct ‘Nocturne’
Fox is feeling apocalyptic.
The studio has bought an untitled pitch about the end of the world, with “Live Free or Die Hard” director Len Wiseman in talks to direct and produce.
The project is based on an original idea about a group of people who survive the end of the world and the mystery surrounding how they got to that position. The studio is seeking writers for the project.
The ICM-repped Wiseman is best known for directing the 2007 “Die Hard” sequel for Fox. He’s attached to the underwater military actioner “Atlantis Rising” and the futuristic war pic “Shrapnel” but does not have a go picture.
He also directed this year’s “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans,” the most recent pic in that lucrative genre franchise.
The apocalypse and all that follows is going through one of its semi-regular renaissances in Hollywood, with Sony set to release the Roland Emmerich end-of-days pic “2012” on Friday.
Tell me they don’t miss Daniel Carlson, who used to be the copy editor over at THR! He’d have never missed that. Is the pitch “untitled” or is it called Nocturne? Also, note: Wiseman did not direct Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. Those are the kind of mistakes we’re expected to occasionally make (since we don’t have a fact-checker on staff), but this is the effing Hollywood Reporter. And this is also why print is dying.
Comments
Posted by: Daniel Hall at November 10, 2009 5:40 PM
...they still print news?