Cronenberg's next is

[ilovemovies]

The adaptation of Robert Ludlum's novel The Matarese Circle that Denzel Washington has been attached to for quite a while.



http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=49505


David Cronenberg Directing The Matarese Circle
Source: Variety October 8, 2008


David Cronenberg is in negotiations to direct political thriller The Matarese Circle for MGM, reports Variety.

Denzel Washington is attached to star in the film, which is based on a Robert Ludlum novel.

Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, the book revolves around two men — one American, one Soviet — who must cooperate in order to foil a sinister plot to topple the world's governments.

Writing partners Michael Brandt and Derek Haas (3:10 to Yuma) wrote the adaptation.

Lorenzo di Bonaventura is producing alongside Nick Wechsler and Jeffrey Weiner.

MGM is eyeing a spring start date.

[Cosimo]

um strange indeed a ludlum novel directed by cronenberg

should be dark none the less. since he went straight hehe me funny, history of violence and the majority of eastern promises were pretty darn cool i thought

very much looking forward to it

my old man has read the book many years ago

[Conz]

History of Violence is seriously one of the worst movies ive ever seen in my life. the acting in that movie was putrid, from the kids up to William Hurt. Eastern Promises was an overrrated sack of crap too. So...yea, dont care about his next film. Yes, i did need to share this

[questforthevile]

History of Violence is seriously one of the worst movies ive ever seen in my life. the acting in that movie was putrid, from the kids up to William Hurt. Eastern Promises was an overrrated sack of crap too. So...yea, dont care about his next film. Yes, i did need to share this


WOW!

William Hurt usually pours himself into the character. Makes me want to see this movie to see how bad he really is.

[Cosimo]

WOW!

William Hurt usually pours himself into the character. Makes me want to see this movie to see how bad he really is.

i'm not really a william hurt fan but he aint bad in the film at all, it's one of his best performances. it's more of a cameo, he plays an evil fucka

the film is full of great performances that don't feel out of place within cronenbergs strange little world. ed harris and viggo are both outstanding

both his latest films are still very surreal

spider was cool too infact

[therealjohng]

A History of Violence is one of the best films of this decade by far. Eastern Promises was ok. But Cronenberg and Washington together sounds fascinating. I'm there considering Cronenberg is one of my favorite directors.

[Brendan M.]

Sounds good. I really like the direction Cronenberg is going in. I kinda hope that the TimeCrimes remake rumor is false cause I rather see him direct original material like this and Eastern Promises.

[Brendan M.]

History of Violence is seriously one of the worst movies ive ever seen in my life. the acting in that movie was putrid, from the kids up to William Hurt.

I was able to look past it since the performances in a way were meant to be sort of campy and unreal.

[blankpage]

I absolutely loved A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, but I thought EASTERN PROMISES wasn't that great AT ALL. Having said that, this sounds interesting, and with Denzel in the mix...I'm totally there.

[Tayzlor]

I was able to look past it since the performances in a way were meant to be sort of campy and unreal.

We agree but there's no "in a way". They were supposed to be campy and unreal...not to defend the film too much as I think it's primary goal is not too far from "Funny Games". Difference being that Cronenberg is a bit more sly than Haneke.

"Eastern Promises" was a nice melodrama, and I'm not adding any condescension (you know, it was good, for a melodrama).

I have my doubts though that Cronenberg can top his "Spider" this decade.

This has to be the first instance of Washington working with an internationally praised auteur (I've always considered Spike Lee more for the Americans, he never plays the festival circuit, works in Hollywood, is an auteur with intermittent praise) even though they seem to be operating within Hollywood, Cronenberg never has had any problem obfuscating (or, really, not) his actual interests enough while still serving up a serviceable thriller.

[Danger^Cart]

Gave History of Violence another viewing last night, to see if maybe the awkwardness would dissipate with repeat viewings, and it definetely did not. With the exception of Ed, who was brilliant and the only performance that didn't seem forced and out of place, the acting and overall integrity of the film is absolutely horrendous.

The Fly is one of my favorite flicks, though, and I enjoyed Eastern Promises well enough.

[chinton]

I have yet to see Eastern Promises becuase History of Violence left such a sour taste in my mouth. I could not get into that film at all and found it pretty forgettable. Wish I could see this sly humor (black humor?) everyone else gets.

[Brendan M.]

I guess the appeal for me when it came to History of Violence was that the townspeople and the family came straight out of early style cinema. The family was a happy-go lucky nuclear family type while the bullies at school were almost cheesy to the point like 1980's characters from movies say like The Blob remake or Twin Peeks. It was an exaggeration of how good these people's lives were and all of a sudden you got these fowl mouthed gangsters coming in and getting their faces smashed into a bloody pulp by Vigo. Cronenberg purposely made the movie seem unreal and sort of comic-booky because I think the whole point of watching movies is to let go of reality and watch it be turned on its head. And if I remember right, I think the movie was based on a graphic novel. Correct me if I'm wrong though.


There's movies like Evil Dead 2, The Warriors, and Last Dragon that aren't exactly praised for the performances of their actors, but they're just really fun movies to watch because they take you on a trip unlike any other.

[ilovemovies]

I'm surprised by the hate for A History of Violence. I thought it was a pretty good movie. I also think William Hurt was the best thing about the movie. He was awesome in it. Definitely IMO deserved his oscar nomination. A VERY underrated actor, he is.


Eastern Promises, on the otherhand, I thought was meh. A so-so movie that was actually pretty dull save for the big fight scene in the steam room.

[Brendan M.]

I'm more surprised by the hate that Eastern Promises is getting. I really thought it was a step up from History of Violence. And call me a sucker but the whole thing with the baby and the human trafficking with the girls really got to me.

[Nutcracker]

This has to be the first instance of Washington working with an internationally praised auteur (I've always considered Spike Lee more for the Americans, he never plays the festival circuit, works in Hollywood, is an auteur with intermittent praise) even though they seem to be operating within Hollywood, Cronenberg never has had any problem obfuscating (or, really, not) his actual interests enough while still serving up a serviceable thriller.

That's highly inaccurate, regarding Lee. He always plays the international festival circuit, and arguably gets more unreserved praise, awards and nominations internationally, than he does in America, where he's a more controversial figure (films of his that get ignored or mixed reviews in America, often get more praise in other countries). He's been nominated for the Berlin Festival Golden Bear Award 4 times (for Malcolm X, Get On The Bus, Bamboozled and 25th Hour) and won a special citation at the festival for Get On The Bus. Lee has more Golden Bear nominations than Cronenberg. Lee's won two jury prizes at the Cannes Film Festival ( For She's Gotta Have It and Jungle Fever) and twice been nominated for the Golden Palme (Jungle Fever and Do The Right Thing. There was a huge controversy when Stephen Soderbergh's Sex Lies And Videotape won the Golden Palme, because many at the festival thought Do The Right Thing was the heavy favorite to win).

Lee has been nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice film festival for Clockers in 1995, and won two awards at the festival in 2006 for his documentary "When The Leevees Broke".

Lee has won the French equivalent of honorary Oscar in 2003 (an honorary Ceasar) and the British equivalent honorary BAFTA award in 2002.

Washington has also worked with the internationally praised Indian auteur Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding, Saalam Bombay, The Namesake, Kama Sutra) as the lead in the 1991 independent film Mississipi Massala (which was nominated at the Venice Film Festival for the Golden Lion, and for which Mira Nair won a director and screenplay prize).

[DaveyJoeG]

That's highly inaccurate, regarding Lee. He always plays the international festival circuit, and arguably gets more unreserved praise, awards and nominations internationally, than he does in America, where he's a more controversial figure (films of his that get ignored or mixed reviews in America, often get more praise in other countries). He's been nominated for the Berlin Festival Golden Bear Award 4 times (for Malcolm X, Get On The Bus, Bamboozled and 25th Hour) and won a special citation at the festival for Get On The Bus. Lee has more Golden Bear nominations than Cronenberg. Lee's won two jury prizes at the Cannes Film Festival ( For She's Gotta Have It and Jungle Fever) and twice been nominated for the Golden Palme (Jungle Fever and Do The Right Thing. There was a huge controversy when Stephen Soderbergh's Sex Lies And Videotape won the Golden Palme, because many at the festival thought Do The Right Thing was the heavy favorite to win).

Lee has been nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice film festival for Clockers in 1995, and won two awards at the festival in 2006 for his documentary "When The Leevees Broke".

Lee has won the French equivalent of honorary Oscar in 2003 (an honorary Ceasar) and the British equivalent honorary BAFTA award in 2002.

Is that you, Spike?

[Nutcracker]

Is that you, Spike?

Nope. I was just correcting an inaccurate statement with factual evidence. A novel idea, I know.

I was actually more interested in correcting the idea that Washington had never worked with an internationally praised/reknowned auteur (hence the mention of Mira Nair in the final paragraph) than touting Lee's international bonafides. But it's hard to do the former, without presenting some evidence of the latter.

[Tayzlor]

That's highly inaccurate, regarding Lee. He always plays the international festival circuit, and arguably gets more unreserved praise, awards and nominations internationally, than he does in America, where he's a more controversial figure (films of his that get ignored or mixed reviews in America, often get more praise in other countries). He's been nominated for the Berlin Festival Golden Bear Award 4 times (for Malcolm X, Get On The Bus, Bamboozled and 25th Hour) and won a special citation at the festival for Get On The Bus. Lee has more Golden Bear nominations than Cronenberg. Lee's won two jury prizes at the Cannes Film Festival ( For She's Gotta Have It and Jungle Fever) and twice been nominated for the Golden Palme (Jungle Fever and Do The Right Thing. There was a huge controversy when Stephen Soderbergh's Sex Lies And Videotape won the Golden Palme, because many at the festival thought Do The Right Thing was the heavy favorite to win).

Lee has been nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice film festival for Clockers in 1995, and won two awards at the festival in 2006 for his documentary "When The Leevees Broke".

Lee has won the French equivalent of honorary Oscar in 2003 (an honorary Ceasar) and the British equivalent honorary BAFTA award in 2002.

Washington has also worked with the internationally praised Indian auteur Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding, Saalam Bombay, The Namesake, Kama Sutra) as the lead in the 1991 independent film Mississipi Massala (which was nominated at the Venice Film Festival for the Golden Lion, and for which Mira Nair won a director and screenplay prize).

I'll concede that Spike Lee is probably more revered internationally than he is in America.

I'll give you Mira Nair.

Lately, though, which I should have highlighted in my above post, he has not played the festival circuit. The last film of his to debut at the big three (Venice, Berlin, Cannes) was, I believe according to IMDB, "Clockers" in 1995. All of his Berlin entries may have been European premieres but that still comes after an American rollout...if that's any indication of his priorities. And "When the Levees Broke" of course premiered on HBO the month before Venice 2006. My point is that ever since he has been in a position to avoid playing the festival circuit he has not. That's why I consider him an American/Hollywood filmmaker first, followed by an international one.

[APzombie]

A Hstory of Violence is damn near brilliant.
Eastern Promises would be if it didn't have those annoying voice overs. Its still one of his best films though.

I'm lookinbg forward to this but not without reservation. To be honest, every film with Denzel that includes espionage, cops and him running around with sun glasses and guns tends to bore the shit out of me.

[Conz]

Gave History of Violence another viewing last night, to see if maybe the awkwardness would dissipate with repeat viewings, and it definetely did not. With the exception of Ed, who was brilliant and the only performance that didn't seem forced and out of place, the acting and overall integrity of the film is absolutely horrendous.


thank you, Ed Harris was cool, Viggo was good before he became a badass. The kids in the movie were the worst actors ive ever seen. i dont like to pick on little girls but...god damn, worst performance ive ever seen

[CosmicPuppet]

I preferred Eastern Promises to the former film. It was much stronger in scope, had a better story and it had Viggo Mortensen's balls.

[BadCoverVersion]

I preferred Eastern Promises to the former film. It was much stronger in scope, had a better story and it had Viggo Mortensen's balls.

Yeah, I prefer Eastern Promises to A History of Violence just because of the bonus Viggo winkie bits.

Spider is his best this decade though.

[Cosimo]

i remember watching history of violence in the cinema and some yo shouted out "rat!" when viggo's wife appeared with no delicates on

the acting from the son in the film was pretty poor but the performances from the rest of the cast suited the surreal feel to the film.

SPOILERS

personally i loved how viggo switched from being mr nice family guy to mr bad motherfucka. i thought he was wicked in the film


END

naomi watts was kinda disappointing in eastern promises and i didn't think the end twist was necessary. viggo was again awesome i'd say

history of violence (8) and eastern promises a (7)

[LordSimen]

Eastern Promises and A History of Violence are two of the best films of the decade by far. Perfect masterpieces of modern film making. I didn't quite realize they were hated on around here.

[Superplasmatron]

Eastern Promises and A History of Violence are two of the best films of the decade by far. Perfect masterpieces of modern film making. I didn't quite realized they were hated on around here.

I didn't think they were, I loved both of them, despite William Hurts beard.

[Nutcracker]

I'll concede that Spike Lee is probably more revered internationally than he is in America.

I'll give you Mira Nair.

Lately, though, which I should have highlighted in my above post, he has not played the festival circuit. The last film of his to debut at the big three (Venice, Berlin, Cannes) was, I believe according to IMDB, "Clockers" in 1995. All of his Berlin entries may have been European premieres but that still comes after an American rollout...if that's any indication of his priorities. And "When the Levees Broke" of course premiered on HBO the month before Venice 2006. My point is that ever since he has been in a position to avoid playing the festival circuit he has not. That's why I consider him an American/Hollywood filmmaker first, followed by an international one.

When you put it that way, fair enough.

I think Kenneth Branagh would also count in Washington's "internationally acclaimed auteur" column, as well as Nair. They did MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING in 1993, which was a British arthouse film with an all-star cast. Many of Branagh's films are funded and made outside the Hollywood system, and he still does festivals. I was surprised to see that SLEUTH (with got a "so-so" critical reception in the US) was nominated for The Golden Lion at Venice in 2007, and won a special jury award.

[Pride]

I thought Eastern Promises (9/10) was far superior to History of Violence. Im also supprised people dont seem to be mentioning Cronenberg's earlier films like Spider.

Ahwell, Im looking forward to this

[Brendan M.]

I still need to see Shivers!

[therealjohng]

I love that Cronenberg is taking his career in a different direction in the past 10 or so years, but is still putting his ultra violent stamp in his flicks. God I get really excited when this guy makes movies.

[ilovemovies]

My probblem with Eastern Promises is that the movie felt so understated that it made the movie feel rather mundane and the movie barely had a pulse except for the big fight scene.

[blankpage]

My probblem with Eastern Promises is that the movie felt so understated that it made the movie feel rather mundane and the movie barely had a pulse except for the big fight scene.

Pretty much how I feel about it too. Having said that, seeing this resergance in Cronenberg's career is exciting...and collaborating with Denzel is perfect.

[Strider]

Cronenberg's last two films failed to impress me. A History of Violence is very mediocre and forgettable, and I'll never understand why William Hurt received an Oscar nomination for an irritating, terribly over-the-top performance. As for Eastern Promises, I think it's a better film with stronger acting, but I didn't care much for its anti-climactic conclusion.

He's a very talented, intelligent filmmaker nevertheless, and I hope his next film is great.

Strider

[Sonny Corleone]

I'm looking much more forward to his remake of Timecrimes.

[ilovemovies]

Tom Cruise is now in talks to joing Washington and Cronenberg.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=52810


Tom Cruise in Talks for Cronenberg's Circle
Source: Variety February 11, 2009


Tom Cruise is in talks to star with Denzel Washington in The Matarese Circle, the David Cronenberg-directed adaptation of the Robert Ludlum thriller that MGM will put into production this year, reports Variety.

Cruise will go mano a mano with Washington as two bitter enemy spies who, after spending two decades trying to kill one another, find themselves in the crosshairs of the Matarese, a powerful group at the root of a conspiracy.

The trade says that the script by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas (Wanted) contemporizes Ludlum's original Cold War premise.

Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Nick Wechsler will produce with Jeffrey Weiner and Ben Smith's newly formed Captivate Entertainment. Henry Morrison is executive producer.

The film is expected to be released in 2010.

Cruise is expected next to star with Charlize Theron in The Tourist for Spyglass.

[ilovemovies]

Tom Cruise teaming up with Denzel Washington and David Cronenberg = BADASS!!! :cool:

[blankpage]

Not that it wasn't before, but Cruise v.s. Washington = my ass in seat.

[drc5145]

I don't even have to know the damn plot. You had me at Cronenberg, Washington and Cruise. :D

[LordSimen]

This casting news sounds awesome. But then again, I'd be thrilled if fuckin' Carrot Top was workin' with Cronenberg. Even when he's bad, he rules. Cronenberg that is.

[Cosimo]

cruise and cronenberg, yes very interesting indeed

[DaMovieMan]

Cruise has been pretty bad recently, Washington got lost somewhere perhaps because he realized that he always acts the same so he needed to take a break. Either way, the only reason I would see this is because of Cronenberg. A History of Violence was really good, and Easter Promises wasn't bad, both were pretty entertaining.

[Mr.HyDe807]

A history of Violence, I thought, got much better after repeated viewings. I caught a good amount of Eastern Promises when Fios does the couple of days where all the channels are available, and thought it was pretty good.

So, I'd say I'm down for this flick.

[John Galt]

A History Of Violence and Eastern Promises are easily two of the greatest films of this decade!!! I shudder at what some of their detractors would call THEIR best films of the 2000's.

SPOILERS
History had a better structure and I just love when Viggo switches from homebody to baddie on his front lawn. :D

Promises had a cooler FEEL and a darker atmosphere. His acting was TOP NOTCH in this one as well. And him running the show at the end whilst flipping a coin 1930's gangster style was PRICELESS.

But neither film are as CLASSIC as The Brood. That's quintessential Cronenberg in a nutshell. How 'bout a sequel Davey Boy!!! Ya left the door open for it at the end. But then again it isn't 1979. :(

I think everything Cronenberg touches lately turns to gold; so I'm sure this one won't disappoint in spite of Cruise & Denzel.