While his passion for explosions and Victoria’s Secret models suggests that Michael Bay is a total bro at heart, it would seem that he’s got a soft spot for endangered animals. With the director spending much of the last several years making branded toys clang and crash, he also took a detour to make the (relatively) smaller movie "Pain & Gain" last year, and it would seem he’s toying with an idea for another effort that will not involve Hasbro or CGI.
Chatting with HitFix recently, when asked about possibly doing another smaller scale film, Bay replied, "I don’t know. I don’t know. There’s an African elephant thing that keeps … I always wanted to do one of those stories." And while this may seem surprising, keep the snark in check a little bit, as elephants have quietly been a concern for Bay for years. When he was feuding with Hugo Weaving a few years back (bet you forgot about that), in a since deleted post, Bay suggested that well paid actors unhappy with the movies they were in could donate their salary to "a wonderful Elephant Rescue. It’s the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Africa. I will match the funds they donate." So, Bay making an animal rescue movie? We’d be into it.
In other directing news, Deadline reports Fox has snapped up the rights to James Wan‘s graphic novel "Malignant Man," and he will develop it as a possible directing vehicle. The story centers "on Alan Gates, a cancer patient with a terminal diagnosis who is resigned to his fate until he discovers that his tumor is actually a mysterious parasite. Granted a second lease on life and incredible, otherworldly powers, Alan must fight against an evil army buried beneath society’s skin, all the while unlocking the secrets of his forgotten past." So add it the pile of stuff Wan will be offered when "Fast & Furious 7" becomes a big hit.
Nikolaj Arcel, the director of the original "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo," is attached to direct an adaptation of "Savages" writer Don Winslow‘s "The Power Of The Dog," reports Deadline. Here’s the Amazon synopsis: "Art Montana is an obsessive DEA agent. The Barrera brothers are heirs to a drug empire. Nora Hayden is a jaded teenager who becomes a high-class hooker. Father Parada is a powerful and uncorruptable Catholic priest. Callan is an Irish kid from Hell’s kitchen who grows up to be a merciless hitman. And they are all trapped in the world of the Mexican drug Federación. From the streets of New York City to Mexico City and Tiajuana to the jungles of Central America, this is the war on drugs like you’ve never seen it." Shane Salerno is co-writing the script with Arcel.
THR reveals that Lana Wilson, the director behind the celebrated abortion documentary "After Tiller," is facing another heavy subject head on with "Last Call." Her next doc will focus on "a few Japanese Buddhist priests combating the suicide epidemic that hit Japan after the economic downfall in 1997 and how that could serve as a model for dealing with the rising global suicide rate today." Damn.
Longtime David Fincher editor and collaborator Angus Wall is venturing forth with his directorial debut, with The Wrap reporting he’ll helm "Echo." Aaron Coffman penned the future set story that follows " a young woman who discovers she is a clone who has been abandoned by the woman who hired a lab to create her."
"Wish You Were Here" director and Blue Tongue Films collective member Kieran Darcy-Smith will direct "Blackwater" for Warner Bros. reports Deadline. And yes, it’s about what you think it is, with the movie telling the "true story of the rise of Erik Prince’s privatized military company Blackwater Worldwide, which became a controversial yet key player in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Four former guards from the security firm are facing trial in the killings of 14 Iraqi civilians and the wounding of 18 others in bloodshed in Baghdad that inflamed anti-American sentiment around the globe in 2007. The contractors were working for the State Department and Blackwater claimed the deadly force was necessary."
Already using Luke Harding‘s "The Snowden Files" as source material for his Edward Snowden flick, Oliver Stone has added another book to his material as he brings the whistleblower’s tale to the big screen. Deadline reveals that Stone has picked up "Time Of The Octopus" by Snowden’s Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, and it’s basically a fictional retelling of the saga that we all know. Gee, Stone punching up his Snowden movie with some made up drama? You don’t say.
