You would think with the massive success of the 'Bourne' franchise, studios would be falling over themselves to develop anything by Robert Ludlum to the big screen but it has been slow going. Outside that series, the last Ludlum property to get produced was the TV mini series "Covert One: The Hades Factor" in 2006. But the wheels have been turning on "The Osterman Weekend" for a long time now and a new director has taken the film.
TV veteran Brian Kirk ("Game Of Thrones," "Luther") who was tapped to direct "Thor 2" early on before leaving the gig, has now added "The Osterman Weekend" to his growing plate of projects. Penned by Jesse Wigutow ("It Runs In The Family") and Simon Kinberg ("Sherlock Holmes," "Mr. and Mrs. Smith") the thriller centers on John Tanner, who is told by a reporter that his friends aren't who they say they are. The reporter then turns up dead, forcing John to go on the run and figure out the conspiracy before he winds up dead himself.
The book was already adapted into a movie in 1983, directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring the eternally rugged Rutger Hauer and Dennis Hopper (spoiler heavy and very '80s trailer below). But the material has always been ripe for a reboot and while "Red" and "R.I.P.D." director Robert Schwentke was attached way back in 2010, very little movement happened afterward.
But whether Kirk coming on board will move things along remains to be seen. He had a busy summer last year, lining up jobs directing the Tom Cruise and Will Smith produced rodeo drama (we're not making that up) "Paper Wings" and the Guillermo Del Toro produced drug drama "Midnight Delivery." Which one of these will get made first? Your guess is as good as ours. Either way, Kirk is giving himself a plethora of options with which to make his sophomore feature film. [Deadline]
