A thriller based on a book by a best-selling author and a reboot of a franchise. Yep, it's another day in Hollywood, so strap in….
First up, Paramount is keen to get Christopher McQuarrie in the director's chair of an adaptation of Tom Clancy's "Without Remorse." If this is stirring something in the far recesses of your memory, that might be because you recall way back in August 2010, when it was reported that "The Shield" creator Shawn Ryan was hired to pen a new draft of the long developing project, that had already seen Aussie writer/director Stuart Beattie ("Tomorrow When The War Began") came and go. And things have been quiet since, but upon seeing what McQuarrie did with another pulp adaptation — namely, "Jack Reacher" based on the book "One Shot" by Lee Child — they're hoping he can work his magic once again.
Although the book is set in the 1970s, it seems unlikely that the film version (being produced by "Star Trek" and "Transformers" writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci) will retain that, and instead just focus on the story of Clark, a mercenary and Vietnam vet, who teams with a prostitute/hitchhiker/ex-drug mule to take on the dealers that employed her. But when she gets killed, Clark goes on a quest for vengeance. Simple enough. For you super Tom Clancy fans, you'll know that the character appears in "Clear And Present Danger," played by Willem Dafoe. No word yet on who they want for the lead, and it's too early for that anyway. If McQuarrie comes on aboard, it's expected he'll write a new draft of the movie.
Meanwhile, a couple of months ago beloved 'Harry Potter' helmer David Yates was said to be in the mix for Warner Bros.' "Tarzan" and now things are apparently "getting serious." Whatever that means. Anyway, we're not sure anyone cares to see a new Tarzan movie, and frankly, we'd rather Yates and WB work on getting Tom Hardy signed up and a date set to get moving on the gangster flick/potential trilogy "Cicero," which the actor is apparently already prepping for. But maybe all the fallout from "Gangster Squad" has made WB wary….or perhaps it's just the fact you can probably sell more Tarzan toys than Al Capone toys. [Deadline]
