When I first heard about Soderbergh’s action spy project, I was like “meh.” I mean the lead star is a non-actress/mixed martial arts champion Gina Carano. Yet Soderbergh promised that she would be surrounded by credible actors with recognizable names. Today, The Playlist discovered that Ewan McGregor, Dennis Quaid, Michael Douglas and Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds) have joined the principal cast.
Originally, the story was to be about a tough girl from the wrong side of the tracks who uses her special set of skills for constructive purposes. Now the story is much more akin to a revenge pic where Mallory Kane (Carano), who is a black ops super soldier, is double crossed by a team member and must uncover who set her up to take the fall.
As to which of these actors is the one who betrayed Carano’s character, take your pick. It could be any of them, or maybe it’s an actor who hasn’t been named. All that is known at this point is that Michael Douglas will play the government figure (think Chris Cooper or Brian Cox in the Bourne series). Fassbender and another unnamed actor will play members of her commando squad, and McGregor will be the one overseeing the Blackwater-type private military complex that Carano’s character is employed at. There’s no word on who Dennis Quaid will play.
I must say that the additions have swayed my interest in the project. We know Douglas and Quaid worked with Soderbergh on his Academy Award-winning film, Traffic. Michael Fassbender has become a hot property after the success of Basterds. Up next for him is Jonah Hex and Neil Marshall’s Centurion. Ewan McGregor is seeing a welcomed return to the big action vehicle, after taking a break from the genre for half a decade.
Now where the project really gets interesting is hearing Soderbergh talk about the elements the film would be comprised of. We got La Femme Nikita, the Jason Bourne films, From Russia with Love, and John Boorman’s take on Richard Stark’s pulp novel The Hunter (filmed as Point Blank with Lee Marvin). But the best part is that for this action thriller it will not share the same Paul Greengrass vibe as The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. Thank God.
Oh, and Lem Dobbs, who wrote Soderbergh’s The Limey, is responsible for the screenplay. Very nice. (It’s been awhile since I’ve watched Terrence Stamp seeking vengeance on Peter Fonda, but Soderbergh’s choice to use Ken Loach’s Poor Cow as flashback footage of Stamp was a nice creative touch.)
Lionsgate is eyeing an August release. If that holds true, methinks it will be either August 20 or August 27.
So what do you guys think? Is this just another filmmaker trying to copy the success of the Jason Bourne films (sort of like all those Gladiator wannabees trying to capture the magic of the Oscar winner)? The additions make the project a little easier to swallow and anytime you have a filmmaker wanting to recreate the vibe of Point Blank I’m all for it.
Source: The Playlist
