James Mangold to Direct Travis McGee Mystery 'The Deep Blue Good-By'

There are a number of projects that A-list actors become attached to that never pan out for one reason or another, and Leonardo DiCaprio is no different. A few years ago he agreed to join director Oliver Stone for The Deep Blue Good-By, based on John D. MacDonald's 1964 novel and the first in his Travis McGee mystery series. It never came to pass, but now 20th Century Fox is reviving the film and bringing aboard a familiar director to be at the helm.

Deadline reports Fox has turned to The Wolverine director James Mangold to direct the adaptation, with the most recent script coming from DiCaprio's Shutter Island writer, Dennis Lehane. The series of pulp novels centers on McGee, a detective and self-professed "salvage consultant" who will help anyone find anything for the right price. Here's a synopsis of the novel....

Travis McGee is a self-described beach bum who won his houseboat in a card game. He’s also a knight-errant who’s wary of credit cards, retirement benefits, political parties, mortgages, and television. He only works when his cash runs out, and his rule is simple: He’ll help you find whatever was taken from you, as long as he can keep half.

McGee isn’t particularly strapped for cash, but how can anyone say no to Cathy, a sweet backwoods girl who’s been tortured repeatedly by her manipulative ex-boyfriend Junior Allen? What Travis isn’t anticipating is just how many women Junior has torn apart and left in his wake. Enter Junior’s latest victim, Lois Atkinson.

Frail and broken, Lois can barely get out of bed when Travis finds her, let alone keep herself alive. But Travis turns into Mother McGee, giving Lois new life as he looks for the ruthless man who steals women’s spirits and livelihoods. But he can’t guess how violent his quest is soon to become. He’ll learn the hard way that there must be casualties in this game of cat and mouse.

Fox has always had eyes on this as a potential franchise, but at the time that was with DiCaprio in tow. They'll obviously be looking for someone of his stature if that remains their long-term goal, so we'll have to wait and see how this develops and if it interferes with plans for a 'Wolverine' sequel. 

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Dennis Lehane reteams with Leonardo DiCaprio for 'Travis McGee'

There's no doubt that Hollywood loves the crime novels by Dennis Lehane, and in particular Leonardo DiCaprio can't seem to get enough of them. A couple of years ago he starred in an adaptation of Lehane's Shutter Island, and is producing Ben Affleck's Live By Night along with developing a big screen version of Running Out of Dog, both based on the author's stories. Now DiCaprio is ready to work with Lehane a little more directly, as 20th Century Fox have tapped the writer to script their long-developing WWII crime film, Travis McGee.

DiCaprio has been set to produce and star in the film since 2009, and it's certainly attracted a high-powered group of potential directors with Oliver Stone, Gary Fleder, and most recently Paul Greengrass circling. Considered the beginning of a potential franchise, Travis McGee is based on The Deep Blue Good-by, the first of twenty-one novels by John D. MacDonald centered on the titular "salvage consultant" officially described as "a self-described beach bum who won his houseboat in a card game. He's also a knight errant who's wary of credit cards, retirement benefits, political parties, mortgages, and television. He only works when his cash runs out and his rule is simple: he'll help you find whatever was taken from you, as long as he can keep half..."

The first story has McGee attempting to find treasure hidden by a WWII soldier, and as usual running afoul of numerous villains along the way. Lehane has seen many of his novels adapted before, most notably Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone, and is currently adapting his own short story Animal Rescue, which has Tom Hardy in the lead role. This will be the first time he'll adapt another author's work, however. So chalk this as a project worth keeping an eye on, and hopefully we'll get some confirmation on a director soon. [THR]

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Ben Affleck will next direct Dennis Lehane's 'Live by Night'

It's been a huge day for Ben Affleck, to say the least. The day began with his hostage thriller, Argo, earning seven Academy Award nominations, even if he was left snubbed for Best Director. But that was all made up later in the evening as he took home Best Director and Best Picture at the Critics Choice Awards. Not too shabby.

A few weeks ago, Affleck exited Focus, the heist comedy that would have paired him up with Kristen Stewart. We knew scheduling was the reason, but not which of his many projects was causing the conflict. In a conversation with MTV, Affleck reveals his next directorial effort will be Dennis Lehane's Live by Night, which he's been rumored for since last fall.

Here's the official synopsis....

Boston, 1926. The '20s are roaring. Liquor is flowing, bullets are flying, and one man sets out to make his mark on the world.

Prohibition has given rise to an endless network of underground distilleries, speakeasies, gangsters, and corrupt cops. Joe Coughlin, the youngest son of a prominent Boston police captain, has long since turned his back on his strict and proper upbringing. Now having graduated from a childhood of petty theft to a career in the pay of the city's most fearsome mobsters, Joe enjoys the spoils, thrills, and notoriety of being an outlaw.

But life on the dark side carries a heavy price. In a time when ruthless men of ambition, armed with cash, illegal booze, and guns, battle for control, no one—neither family nor friend, enemy nor lover—can be trusted. Beyond money and power, even the threat of prison, one fate seems most likely for men like Joe: an early death. But until that day, he and his friends are determined to live life to the hilt.

Joe embarks on a dizzying journey up the ladder of organized crime that takes him from the flash of Jazz Age Boston to the sensual shimmer of Tampa's Latin Quarter to the sizzling streets of Cuba. Live by Night is a riveting epic layered with a diverse cast of loyal friends and callous enemies, tough rumrunners and sultry femmes fatales, Bible-quoting evangelists and cruel Klansmen, all battling for survival and their piece of the American dream. At once a sweeping love story and a compelling saga of revenge, it is a spellbinding tour de force of betrayal and redemption, music and murder, that brings fully to life a bygone era when sin was cause for celebration and vice was a national virtue.

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Tom Hardy may star in Dennis Lehane's 'Animal Rescue'; Michael Roskam to direct

A lot has changed since we last caught up with Animal Rescue, an adaptation of a short story from acclaimed crime novelist Dennis Lehane(Mystic River, Shutter Island, Gone Baby Gone). In May we learned that Neil Burger was planning to direct it, but with his recently taking the reins on Divergent, a replacement needed to be found, and it's arguably a more exciting pick.

Michael Roskam, director of foreign Oscar-nominated Bullhead, will take over with Lehane adapting his own screenplay. Tom Hardy, who already has a couple of anti-poaching films on the way, will star in the film about a "lonely Boston bartender who rescues a puppy from a garbage can and becomes the target of the dog's abusive and mentally unstable former owner, while simultaneously getting caught in the middle of a criminal conspiracy playing out in his mob-controlled bar." Yep, I think that's right up Hardy's alley. Abusing animals makes Bane angry.

Both Hardy and Roskam are busy, but if everything comes together filming will begin early next year.

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Sure Shots: Jennifer Connelly, Ben Affleck; Kevin Hart

* Jennifer Connelly has been out of the spotlight for awhile, even though she's continued to have strong performances in films like The Dilemma and Virginia. But with Darren Aronofsky's Noah on the way, she's definitely stepping back into roles that people will actually have a chance to see. She'll next join the cast of Winter's Tale, the directorial debut of superstar scribe/producer Akiva Goldsman. Based on Mark Helprin's acclaimed fantasy novel, the story follows a petty thief(Colin Farrell) who falls in love with the terminally ill daughter(Jessica Brown Findlay) of a millionaire(William Hurt) while breaking into their home. Connelly will play the girl's mother, with Matt Bomer, Lucy Griffiths, and Eva Marie Saint co-starring. Russell Crowe and Will Smith are in line for cameos. [Deadline]

* Ben Affleck and the gritty, hard-scrabble crime novels of Dennis Lehane have proven to be a successful mix in the past with Gone Baby Gone, so it's no surprise the director is looking to go to the well one more time. Affleck is in talks to write, produce, direct, and star in the author's latest book, Live By Night. You might recall that Leonardo DiCaprio was attached to it back in April, but he'll instead produce through his Appian Way shingle. Set in Prohibition-era Boston, the story follows Joe Coughlin, the son of a police officer who embarks on career in organized crime that takes him from his hometown to Tampa to Cuba. Affleck has a ton of projects on the backburner, so it's hard to tell where exactly this one will fit in, but it sounds great already and certainly right in his wheelhouse. [Deadline]

* In the works since freaking 2010, Warner Bros. has finally given the green light to Grudge Match, the boxing comedy that will star Sylvester "Rocky" Stallone and Robert "Raging Bull"De Niro as two aging fighters who plan one final fight to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their first epic clash. But since somebody has to under the age of 100 in this thing, Kevin Hart has been added as the fight's promoter. Directed by Peter Segal(The Longest Yard) and written by Entourage creator Doug Ellin, I'm getting a Great White Hype vibe off of this one. That's a good thing, by the way. Think of how awesome the marketing for this film will be! [Deadline]

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Review: Shutter Island

"It was a dark and stormy night". That classic opening line from the crime thriller's catalogue perfectly encapsulates the mood of Martin Scorsese and Leonardio Dicaprio's latest film. From the get go, we're pounded over the head with the obtuse, intrusive score, signaling dread and terror ahead. "A storm is coming", a ferry captain mentions matter of factly to Teddy Daniels(Dicaprio), dog eyed but perceptive US Marshall. This isn't an ordinary storm. It's the type of storm that only a writer could dream up. It's like being in the eye of a hurricane.

Teddy's job is to find a missing prisoner from a penitentiary, located on the mysterious Shutter Island. It's a desolate isle, complete with an ancient fort used during the Civil War, surrounded by jagged rocks and a tide that seems like it's being stirred up by some mad god. Teddy's been paired up with a partner, Chuck(Mark Ruffalo), for the first time. As the island approaches, you know why an insane asylum was placed there of all places: You'd have to be crazy to ever set foot on that island.

Clearly not everything is as it seems. Teddy is a classic flawed hero, torn straight from the film noir mold. He brings with him the burdens of misdeeds performed during his time as a soldier. His eyes are dark and heavy from seeing way too much. He brings this burden with him to every scene.

Almost immediately, Teddy and Chuck are treated like barely tolerated houseguests. Every nicety seems forced, and the air is thick with deeply buried secrets. For some reason, everyone seems to be withholding something. Every statement feels like a half truth, or a full blown lie. But to what end? Surely everyone would want to capture an escaped murderer, right? The facility's smirking head psychiatrist(Ben Kingsley) seems happy just to lead Teddy by the nose into one dead end after another. That, or stand idly by while his partner(Max Von Sydow) plucks away at Teddy's emotional scabs.

This is probably Scorsese's most visually appealing film. Somehow he manages to blend the colorful, fantasy world of Teddy's dreams with Scorsese's own penchant for grit, creating a wholly unique film noir experience. Every gust of wind appears as if it's going to thrust the entire scene off the reel itself. Every crash of the tide likely to rip the island to shreds. This is a horrifyingly bleak landscape, not just outside but in as well. When Teddy makes his way through the most forbidden area of the prison, it's like he's walking into the pit of Hell itself, or straight into the Labrynth. It reminds me of the cavernous well from Silence of The Lambs.

Shutter Island is undeniably creepy. Not scary. There are no shocking, jump out of your seat moments. It's work is purely psychological, to the point where you also begin to question your own thoughts on what the heck is going on. That's the film's strongest asset, playing the viewer like a fiddle and spinning your emotions like a top. The best mysteries like this are the ones where you are as clueless as the hero. We know only as much as he knows throughout. The story is surprisingly simple on it's face, and I knew exactly what I thought the ending would be months ago. The story doesn't totally go in the direction I thought it would, but I will say it made me question everything I had seen before. That's the mark of any good thriller such as this. In that, Scorsese and Dicaprio have created  a fully immersive, emotional roller coaster of a film that I'm betting will only get better the next time I see it.

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Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island trailer!

I'm a big fan of the last two Dennis Lehane novels that were adapted into two equally great films, Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone. So I was understandably psyched to find out that Martin Scorsese would be tackling yet another Lehane adaptation, Shutter Island, and that he'd be bringing along his BFF Leonardo Dicaprio. Shutter Island is the story of two federal marshalls sent to a remote island to investigate the disappearance of a murderer from a maximum security prison. This one looks more intense than the previous two Lehane films, but no less moody and dreary. I'm definitely lookin' forward to this. Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think!

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