I love it
when an actor finds synergy with a director and works with them on multiple
films because both parties are usually able to up each other’s game and bring a
level of trust and freedom to a movie set that you simply could not have
otherwise. Lately, we’ve been treated to more than a few actor/director powerhouse
duos that enjoy working together, and their collabos have paid dividends. But I’m
going to look past obvious, much-ballyhooed examples like Tyrese/John Singleton
or John Travolta/Walt Becker to focus on some more obscure choices of the
Leonardo DiCaprio/Martin Scorsese or Russell Crowe/Ridley Scott varieties.
It’s
great that these latter low-wattage combos have been able to eek out a notable
pic or two between them, but it’s even better that we’re going to see a merging
of sorts into a mega-collabo. You see, Leo’s been attached to star in Scott’s
CIA thriller Body of Lies for some time, which just happens to have been
scripted by William Monahan, who of course scripted the Leo/Scorsese joint The
Departed. You may have to IMDB that one. Anyway, ever since DiCaprio
came on board, people have been looking for where Russell Crowe can get in
given his perpetual attachment to Ridley Scott’s work. Now it’s official that Crowe
will be coming on board as DiCaprio’s boss as they work together to trap an
Al-Qaeda terrorist using misinformation, propaganda and deception. I think Fox
News may have already jumped on this assignment, tho.
Amazingly,
this still isn’t quite up to Russell’s standards, so he’s asked that Steve
Zaillian (American Gangster, Gangs of New York) come in for a “polish”
to punch up the script. He’ll have a wee bit of time as this won’t go into
production until next year this fall (I had this confused with Nottingham, which does shoot next year), but it looks to be worth the wait.