Christopher McQuarrie

Paramount/DreamWorks Animation CinemaCon Video Blog; Covers Tom Cruise’s ONE SHOT, RISE OF THE GUARDIANS, J.J. Abrams STAR TREK 2 Hat, and More

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: April 24th, 2012 at 1:31 pm

Last night at CinemaCon 2012, Paramount and DreamWorks Animation showed off footage from their upcoming 2012 movies including director Christopher McQuarrie‘s One Shot (starring Tom Cruise), Sacha Baron Cohen‘s The Dictator, Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, Rise of the Guardians, and G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

In addition to the footage, if you’re a fan of J.J. Abrams Star Trek and anxiously awaiting the sequel, during a tribute to a retiring Paramount executive, Abrams was interviewed on set wearing a very cool Star Trek 2 crew hat.  While he was only on screen for a few seconds, it was clear he was on the deck of the Enterprise, the hat had a number 2 in the front, and I immediately wanted to own one.  Hit the jump for more.

Christopher McQuarrie to Produce, Write, and Direct Multi-Platform SEVEN SAMURAI Remake RUBICON

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: October 14th, 2011 at 10:56 am

Writer-director Christopher McQuarrie (One Shot) is set to produce, write, and direct Rubicon, a multi-platform remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai.  According to Deadline, the property is intended to be turned into a movie, graphic novel, and videogame.  For those unfamiliar with Kurosawa’s masterpiece, the story focuses on a group of ronin hired by hapless villagers to defend against bandits.  Rubicon will recast the samurai as Navy SEALs in Afghanistan fighting against the Taliban.  I can get on board with a Seven Samurai remake that lifts the premise and puts it into a new setting, and Rubicon‘s set-up sounds like it could be a solid movie/graphic novel/video game.

McQuarrie, whose brother commanded a SEAL team, will co-produce with founding SEAL Team Six member Dan Capel.  Fellow producer Mark Long says the intention is to “explore the true nature of war, for both its heroes and its victims.”  The true nature of war: reset buttons and experience points.  Deadline reports that the plan is to release the video game, graphic novel, and movie simultaneously and that each will have a separate but complementary storyline.  The first chapter of the graphic novel will be included in Capel’s upcoming autobiography.

Werner Herzog to Play the Villain in ONE SHOT Starring Tom Cruise

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: October 4th, 2011 at 11:59 am

This is some of the best casting news in just about forever.  Writer-director Werner Herzog, who has taken the occasional minor acting role in his long filmmaking career, will play the villain in Christopher McQuarrie’s adaptation of One Shot.  Tom Cruise stars in the film as retired military investigator Jack Reacher, an ex-military investigator-turned-drifter who “gets sucked into the mystery surrounding the arrest of a sniper accused of killing five random people in a shooting.”  According to Variety, “Herzog will play The Zec, an ex-prisoner of war who arranges and stages the killing and is the head of the conspiracy.”  That’s right: Herzog’s not just playing a villain.  He’s playing a villain with an awesome name.  This almost makes up for Herzog’s latest documentary, Into the Abyss.  While his acting resume may be sparse, Herzog’s best-known character is himself and I’ll be interested to see how much Herzog is in The Zec.

The film also stars Rosamund Pike, David Oyelowo, Richard Jenkins, and Robert Duvall.  Hit the jump for a synopsis of the novel.  One Shot opens February 8, 2013.

Robert Duvall Joins ONE SHOT Starring Tom Cruise

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: September 28th, 2011 at 12:42 pm

Fans of Lee Child’s novel One Shot may be unhappy with Tom Cruise being cast as Jack Reacher in Christopher McQuarrie’s adaptation, but it’s getting tough to complain about the supporting cast.  Last week we reported that Richard Jenkins had joined the cast and now Variety is reporting that Oscar-winner Robert Duvall has come on board.  Variety has no details on his character beyond saying that Dvuall has a small but pivotal role which is significant to Reacher’s investigation into a sniper accused of murdering five people.

Hit the jump for a synopsis of the novel.  The film also stars Rosamund Pike and David Oyelowo.  One Shot is due out February 8, 2013.  As for Duvall, he recently wrapped shooting on Billy Bob Thornton’s Jayne Mansfield’s Car and the indie thriller Mississippi Wild, which stars Dakota Fanning and Ryan Donowho.

Richard Jenkins Joins ONE SHOT Starring Tom Cruise

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: September 22nd, 2011 at 12:49 pm

It’s tough for me to get excited about One Shot when everyone I talk to says the Jack Reacher character in Lee Child’s novels is about as far from Tom Cruise as you can get.  But Cruise is playing Reacher and we have to cross our fingers that Christopher McQuarrie will still make an entertaining film out of it.  At least the cast has gotten a big boost by adding the talented Richard Jenkins to its ranks.

The story has Reacher, a former military investigator, called out of retirement to look into the case of a sniper accused of murdering five people before being captured.  Rosamund Pike has been cast as Reacher’s love-interest while David Oyelowo (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) will play “a veteran homicide detective investigating the mall sniping.”  According to Variety, “Jenkins would play the district attorney who prosecutes the sniper.”  Jenkins will next be seen alongside Johnny Depp in The Rum Diary.  Hit the jump for a synopsis of the novel.

Mark Bomback to Re-Write THE WOLVERINE

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: September 1st, 2011 at 2:27 pm

Screenwriter Mark Bomback (Jack the Giant Killer, the upcoming remake of Total Recall) is set to re-write Christopher McQuarrie’s script for James Mangold’s The Wolverine.  According to Variety, the story still revolves around Wolvie heading to Japan where he falls in love and fights the country’s criminal underworld with nothing but a healing factor, super strength, an adamantium skeleton, and razor-sharp retractable claws (Am I the only one who thinks Wolverine is overpowered?).  The entire cast will be comprised of Japanese and Japanese-American actors except for the new character “Viper” who’s the white secretary for Japan’s Minister of Justice.  I guess the Japanese government is cool hiring people who sound like they should be in a biker gang.  As we previously reported, filming will take place in Vancouver but Variety reports the film will also shoot in Tokyo.  Filming will begin next year after Hugh Jackman wraps on Les Miserables.

Bomback’s previous credits include Live Free or Die Hard, Unstoppable, Godsend, Deception, and the remake of Race to Witch Mountain.  I try not to hang bad movies on the screenwriter since blockbuster films have so many uncredited scribes, but that filmography does not inspire confidence.

Tom Cruise in Talks for Christopher McQuarrie’s ONE SHOT

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: June 13th, 2011 at 4:44 pm

Tom Cruise may be adding yet another “starring role in an action-centered film” to his list, this time with Christopher McQuarrie’s adaptation of Lee Child’s One Shot. The book is part of a series which centers on Jack Reacher, a former military police officer-turned drifter. Deadline reports that Cruise is now in talks to star in the thriller, which Paramount hopes to turn into a series. McQuarrie, best known as the screenwriter of The Usual Suspects and Bryan Singer’s upcoming Jack the Giant Killer, will be directing from a script he wrote.

Cruise is also attached to star in Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski’s sci-fi flick Oblivion. The current plan, if the deal pans out, is for Cruise to film One Shot this fall before moving on to Oblivion which starts production in January. I’m liking Cruise’s choices as of late. I thought Knight and Day was a smart move back into more action-oriented fare, and he’s assembled a top-notch team for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. He’s currently filming Adam Shankman’s musical adaptation Rock of Ages. Hit the jump to read a synopsis of One Shot.

Christopher McQuarrie to Write STAR BLAZERS Adaptation for Skydance Productions

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 21st, 2011 at 10:52 am

Skydance Productions is in the process of acquiring the rights to the 1970s anime Star Blazers (aka Space Battleship Yamato).  According to Deadline, Skydance head David Ellison will hire Christopher McQuarrie (Valkyrie) to pen the script.  For those unfamiliar with Star Blazers, the story centers on an old spaceship in the year 2199 that must go to another planet and pick up a device that can save the Earth, which has been under seige from hostile aliens using radioactive warfare.  The anime was adapted in Japan and released last year, but obviously this new version would be in English.  David Ellison, who is the brother of Paul Thomas Anderson savior Megan Ellison, struck up a relationship with McQuarrie over Top Gun 2.

Ellison and Skydance Productions are setting up to be a major player at Paramount.  Not only has their backing of True Grit led to a box office smash, they’re also co-financing Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, the Jack Ryan reboot, Top Gun 2, My Mother’s Curse, License to Steal (a Shane Salerno script about high-end repo agents), and an untitled Charlize Theron comedy.  He’s also developing the comic The Strange Case of Hyde, but that currently doesn’t have a studio.

Nicholas Hoult Nabs Lead Role in Bryan Singer’s JACK THE GIANT KILLER

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 11th, 2011 at 9:31 am

Nicholas Hoult is set to star in Bryan Singer’s Jack the Giant Killer.  The story is a darker spin on the fairy tale of “Jack and the Beanstalk”.  In this re-telling, Jack is on a mission to rescue a princess from the kingdom of the giants. Earlier this week, we reported that casting was ramping up and that Stanley Tucci would play the film’s villain Roderick while Bill Nighy would play one of the two heads of two-headed leader of the giants (the other is played by John Kassir).  Deadline reports that Hoult got on Singer’s radar after being cast as Beast in X-Men: First Class, which Singer is producing.

Hit the jump for more on Hoult.

George Clooney Attached to Star in THE MONSTER OF FLORENCE Adaptation

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: January 4th, 2011 at 7:35 pm

George Clooney is attached to star in Fox 2000′s adaptation of The Monster of Florence, the best-selling book by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi.  Following a move to Italy, Preston his new home was near the site of two of the murders by the serial killer known as “The Monster of Florence.”  Preston joined forces with Spezi to learn more about the decades-old case, but their investigation was unwelcomed by the local police — the force tapped Preston’s phone and threw Spezi in jail.

Clooney will play Preston, and produce alongside Grant Heslov, Dan Jinks, and Bruce Cohen.  Christopher McQuarrie is writing the screenplay with his Valkyrie co-writer Nathan Alexander.  Hit the jump for a brief history on the path of The Monster of Florence from page to screen, plus a synopsis.

Main Characters and Minor Plot Points Revealed for WOLVERINE 2

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: October 28th, 2010 at 4:31 pm

New details have emerged regarding Christopher McQuarrie’s script for Wolverine 2.  As we suspected, the Japan-set sequel will be based off Chris Claremont and Frank Miller’s 1982 arc that sent Logan to the Land of the Rising Sun.  In order to avoid spoilers, we’ve put the new plot details and character descriptions after the jump.

Hit the jump to learn more about Wolverine 2, which is being directed by Darren Aronofsky and stars Hugh Jackman.  Shooting is scheduled to begin in March 2011.

UPDATE: 20th Century Fox has asked us to take down the article.  Sorry if you missed it.

Screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie Says Maverick Is the Star of TOP GUN 2

by Kevin Panasiewicz    Posted: October 26th, 2010 at 2:34 pm

Huge Top Gun 2 stories have flown onto our radar the past couple weeks, with reports that scribe Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects) had been tapped for screenwriting duties and Tony Scott’s confirmation that he’ll be returning to the director’s chair both breaking. The initial belief was that McQuarrie had incorporated Tom Cruise’s Maverick character in a minor appearance and in hopes of avoiding the cameo from being deemed overtly “obvious”. Now McQuarrie has sent a polite revision of this rumor over to Vulture. His statement: “There is no Top Gun 2 in which Maverick is not the starring role.” Assuming his screenplay is left unscathed and welcomed by all parties involved, it sounds like Tom Cruise is to be expected back in his on-screen pilot’s seat after all. Now we just need to get Iceman on board as his wingman.

Hit the jump for more on Top Gun 2.

Tony Scott Confirms He’ll Direct TOP GUN 2

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: October 25th, 2010 at 8:50 am

A couple weeks ago, we reported that Top Gun 2 was in the works and that offers were out to director Tony Scott and producer Jerry Bruckheimer to return.  Hitfix reports that Scott and Bruckheimer will return.  Speaking to Hitfix, Scott says he partially wants to examine the end of the fighter pilot and turn his attention to the modern day air force:

These computer geeks — these kids play war games in a trailer in Fallon, Nevada and if we ever went to war or were in the Middle East or the Far East or wherever it is, these guys can actually fly drones.  They are unmanned aircraft.  They operate them and then they party all night.”

Hit the jump for more on Top Gun 2.  Scott’s new film, Unstoppable starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine, opens November 12th.

Hugh Jackman Promises WOLVERINE 2 Will Be “Very Different”

by Jeff Ames    Posted: October 19th, 2010 at 12:41 pm

With word that acclaimed filmmaker Darren Aronofsky is set to direct the sequel to the atrocious X-Men Origins: Wolverine, it’s time to turn our attention over to analyzing what we can expect from the follow-up.  Hugh Jackman, on site last night at Elton John’s Enduring Vision gala, gave Vulture the latest scoop on the project. “This is, hopefully for me, going to be out of the box. It’s going to be the best one, I hope,” he said, and then paused. “Well, I would say that, but I really do feel that, and I feel this is going to be very different.”

Jackman also doesn’t feel that the typically dark Aronofsky will clash with the comic book material stating, “”This is Wolverine. This is not Popeye. He’s kind of dark. But, you know, this is a change of pace. Chris McQuarrie, who wrote The Usual Suspects, has written the script, so that’ll give you a good clue. [Aronofsky’s] going to make it fantastic. There’s going to be some meat on the bones. There will be something to think about as you leave the theater, for sure.” Does that mean we can expect something more akin to The Dark Knight? Hit the jump for more.

TOP GUN 2 in the Works; Tom Cruise Will Return for a Small Role

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: October 13th, 2010 at 7:28 pm

Oscar-winning screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie (Valkyrie) is working on an idea for Top Gun 2, and Paramount is eager to get the project up and running, with offers out to the original producer/director team of Jerry Bruckheimer and Tony Scott to return.  McQuarrie has even devised a way to include Tom Cruise in a minor reprisal of his role as Maverick: Cruise is game as long the role isn’t too “obvious.”

Hit the jump to for an attempt to answer the question, “Why now?”

Copyright ©2005 - 2012. All Rights Reserved. California web design