The Hollywood love for the late author Robert Ludlum continues.
Paramount has signed a director and a writer for THE CHANCELLOR MANUSCRIPT.
Did J. Edgar die a natural death?…or was he murdered?
Inver Brass—a group of high-minded and high-placed intellectuals who see a monstrous threat to the country in Hoover’s unethical use of his scandal-ridden private files. They decide to do away with him—quietly, efficiently, with no hint of impropriety. Until best-selling thriller writer Peter Chancellor stumbles onto information that makes his precious books like harmless fairy tales. Now Chancellor and Inver Brass are on a deadly collision course, spiraling across the globe in an ever-widening arc of violence and terror. Hurtling toward a showdown that will rip Washington’s intelligence community apart—leaving only one damning document to survive . . .
Marc Forster has agreed to direct. Forster first stepped into the limelight with the acclaimed MONSTER’S BALL. He followed it up with films like FINDING NEVERLAND and THE KITE RUNNER and most recently directed the James Bond film QUANTUM OF SOLACE.
The agreed upon script is from Peter O’Brien. O’brien spy thriller screenplay UNLOCKED made the 2008 Blacklist (albeit towards the bottom). The BL comes from 250+ studio execs that offer up their top ten screenplays that are not en route to the theaters. Getting on the list can be a pretty big deal.
Leonardo DiCaprio is still attached.
This is just one of several Ludlum projects out there. Frank Marshall and co are working on developing a fourth Bourne film, Tom Cruise, Denzel Washington and David Cronenberg are doing THE MATARESE CIRCLE, Jose Padilha is working on THE SIGMA PROTOCOL and Ron Howard (Da Vinci Code, APOLLO 13) is aiming to make THE PARSIFAL MOSAIC.
In addtion, Universal has secured the rights to all other Ludlum titles. It looks like the heirs of Mr. Ludlum will be ok for a while.
