Doug Liman has been working hard on his version of THE THREE MUSKETEERS to try and beat a rival production – Paul WS Anderson’s 3D version set up at Summit – to the punch. But as Anderson’s film has lined up casting and will be ready to film in September, it’s looking more and more like Liman’s MUSKETEERS could be dead. But Liman isn’t sitting around, waiting patiently for his next film.
The BOURNE IDENTITY director is in talks with Warner Bros. (with whom he was working with on MUSKETEERS) to direct ALL YOU NEED IS KILL, an adaptation of the Hiroshi Sakurazaka novel. The studio paid a hefty seven figures for the spec script by Dante Harper; a deal that came with an aggressive production clause that all but guaranteed the film would go into production within a year from the contract date (April of this year). Sure WB could let their option on the spec lapse and put the project in turnaround but why do that when you’ve already spent seven figures on the script alone?
Liman has been meeting with WB execs about whether it would be possible to shoot MUSKETEERS and KILL back-to-back or whether they should just drop the former like a bad habit and focus on the hot project.
KILL follows a soldier in a futuristic society who keeps reliving the same day, the day of a vicious alien attack, over and over again. It’s been described as GROUNDHOG DAY meets STARSHIP TROOPERS and I suppose that’s somewhat accurate but the script is much better than that comparison would indicate. It’s a quick, sharp thriller with a juicy ass-kicking role for an actress (“The Full Metal Bitch” Rita Vrataski).
While I’m not sure Liman is the perfect guy for the material, I’m glad that Warner Bros. seems to be taking the project seriously and that the contract clause will almost ensure this gets done sooner rather than later.
The comment section exists to allow readers to discuss the article constructively and respectfully, focused on the topic at hand.
What’s Not Allowed