Olivier Megaton, who still has what is possibly the best name in the business regardless of his critical rep (which isn’t good), is sticking with the dual themes of things being taken and the systematic hunt for said taken things for his next directing gig. Hot off of the financial success of TAKEN 2, which made $363 million off a budget of $45 million, Megaton has signed on to direct a story based in truth titled TAKING GOTHAM.
The screenplay, from Thomas Kelly (“Blue Bloods”), “is about a secret unit of the NYPD that was created in response to a string of brutal robberies in New York City. After a deadly sting operation, the elite unit is disavowed by the NYPD, forcing them to go deep underground in order to clear their names.” So a bit of GANGSTER SQUAD and a bit of THE LOSERS from the man behind one of television’s more solid shows, combined with a dash of the action-centric madness of Megaton’s past directorial efforts (COLOMBIANA, THE TRANSPORTER 3)? Sounds like an interesting time, at the very least.
This sounds like the best source material Megaton has had to work with yet, and it won’t be long before we know whether or not he can hack it – production is already gearing up for a March start date, with casting scheduled to begin immediately, so we should expect to see TAKING GOTHAM arrive some time in early 2014.
