We reported earlier this year that the messy breakup of Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures may have killed the director’s opportunity to bring the swinging, pulp fiction super-spy, Matt Helm, back to the big screen (he was previously played by Dean Martin in the 1960s films, which partially inspired Mike Myers’ “Austin Powers” series; there was also a TV show in the ’70s).
The project was being spearheaded by the omnipresent writing/producing duo of Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (“Transformers,” “Star Trek,” TV’s “Fringe,” etc. etc. etc.), with a script recently turned in by the usually solid Paul Attanasio (he wrote and scored Oscar nominations for “Donnie Brasco,” and “Quiz Show,” co-wrote on, “The Fighter,” and his recent ‘Helm’ draft is apparently excellent). Donald Hamilton’s Matt Helm series of novels started in the 1960s and lasted for 33 years, but this version was said to jettison any period setting for the present day, a la the “Bourne” films (yes, we’re all looking forward to the day when we never have to use the phrase ‘a la the “Bourne” films’ again).
When Spielberg took DreamWorks and split for Disney, Paramount said, “No, Spielberg, you cannot have Matt Helm.” So it looked like politics might have killed the project, but in the end, Spielberg got his way, only to eventually turn away from the project on his own accord.
But a source close to the project tells us a new director has his hands on the project — none other than Gary Ross, writer-director of “Pleasantville” and “Seabiscuit,” who was recently attached to writing and potentially directing the Sony “Spider-Man” spin-off “Venom” (he had something to do with the “Spider-Man 4” script, too). But this source notes, “Venom” is a ways off and will have to wait, “Matt Helm,” is coming first and is being scheduled to shoot in the summer of 2010 if all goes according to plan.
“Matt Helm” was originally developed as a project for George Clooney who passed. Jon Hamm was next in line, but fell out of line and now at the top of the list and in discussions is “The Hangover” star Bradley Cooper who almost scored the role of “Green Lantern” earlier this year. No deal is done, but Cooper looks to be the man right now.
When it was decided that Gary Ross was the go-to guy for big budget studio action movies is anybody’s guess. Maybe they saw the thriller-ish undercurrents in his script for “Dave”? (That was a joke.) His father was screenwriter Arthur A. Ross, who wrote the original “Creature from the Black Lagoon,” so maybe they’re just assuming it’s genetic? Either way, with “Venom,” and “Matt Helm” on deck it looks like Ross is going to try his hand at something a little different. — Drew Taylor and the EIC