The planned remade of THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND has a new director on board.
Deadline is reporting that Brian Kirk is in discussions to direct. Kirk’s resume is mainly television, but includes some major titles, including DEXTER, LUCK and LUTHER. He is currently in pre-production for MIDNIGHT DELIVERY, a film that will see him reunite with LUTHER writer Neil Cross.
Robert Schwentke (RED, THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE) had previously been attached to direct. Before that, it had been thought that Simon Kirkman (writer of SHERLOCK HOMES, MR. & MRS. SMITH) would make his directorial debut on it, but is still credited, along with Jesse Wigutow, for the screenplay.
TOW centers on John Tanner. Right before a weekend vacation with a group of old friends, a reporter tells him that some of these friends are not who he thinks they are and can’t be trusted. The person that tells him that ends up dead and Tanner heads into the weekend totally paranoid. But just because you are paranoid does not mean that they aren’t out to get you.
This will be the second trip to the big screen for TOW. Sam Peckinpah, in what turned out to be his final film, adapted it in 1983. Despite having a strong cast, the final product was a confusing mess that saw Peckinpah clashing with the studio and had a screenplay that was so bad that Ludlum himself offered to rewrite it for free.