We still haven’t hit the point in time when The Good Shepherd gets a second look and opinions change on the movie (what opinions there are – I still feel like most people simply didn’t see the thing). I thought we’d have a director’s cut by now, which would leave to some kind of revaluation, but it just hasn’t happened. Which means that DeNiro’s hopes for two more films (he went into the movie already planning a sequel) are likely just pipe dreams.
But they’re pipe dreams he won’t abandon. While in the Czech Republic, picking up a lifetime achievement award at the Karlovy Film Festival (where his latest non-achievement, the often terrible What Just Happened?, played), DeNiro said that he’s still thinking about pursuing the trilogy, according to Variety:
De Niro said he would like to make two sequels to CIA Cold War drama “The Good Shepherd” — one bringing the action forward from 1961 to 1989, the other following its hero, Edward Wilson (Matt Damon), up to the present day.
Although he is not working on research for the concluding parts of the hoped-for trilogy, De Niro said being in central Europe offered a good opportunity to begin thinking about the material.
“I had not been planning to do research on that while here, but it is a good idea,” he said.
Oh CIA Piano, indeed, Bobby.
But hey, my fingers are crossed. The Good Shepherd was a little leaden, but I found the movie to be fascinating enough to allow me to forgive some minor lethargy. In fact, it’s almost time for me to hit the sack… maybe I’ll dig out my DVD copy and start watching it again.