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Director John McTiernan is Helming Action Thriller 'Shrapnel'
by Ethan Anderton
September 10, 2010
The man who once directed such fine action thrillers as Die Hard and The Hunt for Red October hasn't had much of a directing career over the past decade. Of course, no filmmaker wants their last two films to be the remake disaster Rollerball or the convoluted military drama Basic, so John McTiernan is getting back in the director's chair. Variety reports that McTiernan has signed on to direct yet another action thriller with Shrapnel, the story of two war veterans who hunt each other in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Sounds simple enough, and the good news is the Evan Daugerty written script appeared on the Black List in 2008.
Despite the fact that his last two movies were duds, I've actually enjoyed a majority of his other films which also include: The Thomas Crown Affair, Predator, Die Hard with a Vengeance and The Last Action Hero (I'm pretty sure I'm one out of only a dozen people who actually enjoy that flick). Producer Anthony Rhulen (CEO of the FilmEngine banner) stated: "From the first time we read Evan's script, we believed we had the makings of a hit action film. With John McTiernan involved, the financing fell into place, and we expect to announce casting very soon." However, a legal entanglement may keep McTiernan from starting right away as he awaits sentencing after he pled guilty in July to making false statements to law enforcement officials when he was questioned during their investigation into Hollywood private detective Anthony Pellicano.
After seeing both Harry Brown and Taken, it would be awesome to see Michael Caine and Liam Neeson face off against each other, but I'm not sure how old these veterans are supposed to be. Ever since I saw Face-Off at a very young age (hell yea!), I've always had a special place in the testosterone-fueled part of my heart for big one-on-one battles to the death, so I'm anxious to see who signs up for the fight this time. We'll continue to keep you posted on this project since it sounds like casting news is just around the corner. Sound good?
9 Comments
1
No worries Ethan, I like The Last Action Hero too. And didn't McTiernan also do The 13th Warrior? That flick was awesome!!!
Milo on Sep 10, 2010
2
Great to see McTiernan back in the director's chair. This is yet, another big step towards the production of old school high-octane action flicks! The action world has sorely missed this man and now, he's finally back!
Spider on Sep 10, 2010
3
I like the sound of this.
tEDDY bESS on Sep 10, 2010
4
Awesome news for Evan Daugherty. I was one of the judges on SHRAPNEL for the Script Pipeline competition in 2008. Definitely one of my favorite scripts in years of reading. This is the perfect project for McTiernan, too. Such a cool screenplay. . . .
Matt on Sep 10, 2010
5
ohhhhhhh, ethan - caine and neeson facing off?............that gives me a "movie stiffie" just thinking about how good that film could be! and after seeing "five minutes of heaven" - james nesbitt could easily play one of the two leads. as far as age, i think it would be better for the two adversaries to be older (played by actors who can actually act) - i don't want to see this made into a a stallone vs. statham mindless action movie.
beavis on Sep 10, 2010
6
@ Beavis...you do realize that Stallone is older than Neeson and Caine is only 10 years older right? I think it's funny how you paired him with Statham as he could easily be his son. ...I understand the confusion though as Sly looks like he's in his 30s. I'd actually love to see him take on a dramatic action role like this and since it's Mctiernan maybe he can convince Arnold to go toe to toe with Rambo.
peloquin on Sep 10, 2010
7
peloquin- sorry for the confusion - what i meant by the "stallone vs. statham" comment is i want great actors AND a good script............not mediocre actors (like those 2) who just run around shooting and blowing stuff up. - i should have expressed that better. no, man - i DON'T want actors like stallone or schwarzenegger doing this - because then it'd be just another mindless action movie. of course, many on this site LOVE the mindless action movie (like expendables) and that's ok.........it's just not what i want out of this movie - i think it could be better than that.
beavis on Sep 11, 2010
8
Really Sounds Good dear Ethan! i love this guy (john Mctierna),his "Predator" and "Die Hard" movies are my all time best movies and im so interested to see another action from him! thanks for news about John Mctiernan! im waiting for more!
Bob on Sep 11, 2010
9
Part of his recent lack of productivity might also be attributed to his legal problems. He was sentenced to jail for his role in a some wire-tapping scandal though he ended up not serving. Still he was indicted. Some serious stuff from what I know.
jjboldt on Sep 15, 2010
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