After months of rumors, it’s official: Robert Zemeckis will be directing Denzel Washington in the Paramount production “Flight.” The film tells the story of a commercial airline pilot who saves his passengers after a flight goes awry. However, he begins to buckle under the pressure when several investigators question his role in the disaster. Did somebody fly with the emergency break on again??
When shooting begins this October, it will be Zemeckis’ first live-action shoot in over a decade. Since 2000’s “Cast Away,” Zemeckis has helmed three motion-capture CGI films, all with varying degrees of quality that a large contingent of people would never consider “good.” IMDb lists him as also gearing up for the (since-canceled) mo-cap “Yellow Submarine,” but it’s a testament to Zemeckis’ unwavering, foolish dedication to this art form that, even with people recognizing it would be a financial boondoggle to continue with those movies, there are still some who think he’s going to continue in the face of mass apathy.
Washington has the likely hit “Safe House” in early 2012, and this could follow later in the year, a solid slate for the two-time Oscar winner, settling into a comfortable pattern of two inoffensive-to-good movies per year. Despite his talent, he’s never really challenged his range, and we’d love to see him try something smaller, maybe indie. But this does seem more promising than a lot of his recent work. And the last time Zemeckis worked with live actors, Tom Hanks got an Oscar nomination for “Cast Away.” Then again, you could probably credit his co-star Wilson for that. The best actors are the generous ones, really.
