Hi there, Father Geek here with some more info on that prisoner of war flick COLDITZ. This is a genre I love. Everything from Ronald Reagan's POW, to STALAG 17, to KING RAT, to BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER KWAI to, of course, THE GREAT ESCAPE has caught and held my attention since I was 6, or 7 years old. Hell, I even had alot fun with the RAMBOS and those Chuck Norris MISSING IN ACTION flicks. The genre has had everything from Academy Award honored Best Pictures and Best Actors, well, to Jack Hill's BAMBOO DOLL HOUSE and the BIG BIRD CAGE. Father Geek loves them all,but it's time for another quality motion picture to honor the genre and I think COLDITZ has all the earmarks of fulfilling that promise. Here's the word from the contintent and our Paris Offices .
Hi... I just saw this piece from Harry and Klangster on the Miramax produced "COLDITZ" film... We got also some info on that movie from Striding Edge... It seems big WWII flicks are really "in" right now... Good thing...
I don't know if you have heard anything about this and for all I know it may just be a rumour or another project that will get lost in the mists of development hell, but in today's The Daily Mail here in the U.K., there's a piece in the Baz Bamigboye column stating that Tom Cruise, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are supposed to be making a new film about Colditz castle, where Allied prisoners-of-war were kept during World War II (you may remember the excellent BBC/Paramount Seventies television series which starred Robert Wagner and David McCallum or even the earlier 1954 British film, "The Colditz Story", which starred John Mills and which was directed by Bond director Guy Hamilton).
Apart from the fact that Cruise is linked to everything under the sun at the moment (including "Minority Report" if and when it happens) and Affleck is going to be busy for a while on Michael Bay's "Pearl Harbor", the fact that Harvey Weinstein is touted as being involved makes wonder if there is any truth to this. It doesn't really sound like Weinstein's bag, unless they propose to make it a serious, realistic and, for once, historically accurate version of Allied prisoners behind barbed wire. In other words, not "Gates Wide Shut" or "Escape Impossible" with Tom Cruise on a motorcycle trying to leap barbed wire fences outside of Leipzig before being recaptured and telling the camp Kommandant that "You haven't seen me upset".
Actually, I happen to love "The Great Escape" even though it does take a few liberties with the real-life events on which it was based (though compared to "Braveheart", which I also like by the way, it stands as a model of documentary realism). Fortunately, Randall Wallace isn't going to be involved with this, however (I await to see what he has done with his script for "Pearl Harbor"). Bamigboye's article mentions that the scriptwriter is in fact Rafael Yglesias, who wrote the screenplays to Polanski's "Death and the Maiden" and Bille August's "Les Misérables", who is apparently working on a fictionalised story based on some of the available historical facts (including the two excellent books "The Colditz Story" and "The Latter Days at Colditz" by Major Pat Reid) and that the script is currently at an early stage, so who knows. With "Saving Private Ryan", "U-571" and "Pearl Harbor", World War II films look like they're making a comeback.
Hollywood is fond of appropriating other countries' histories and making it their own, so if Weinstein is going to do this, it would be nice for once for someone to get it more or less right. From Bamigmoye's article, it does seem hopeful however as Weinstein is quoted as saying that "The British are certainly the heroes of the movie; there were hardly any Americans there. At one point, there was disharmony among the Allies at Colditz, which is why, eventually, they got the British to co-ordinate all escape attempts". I don't want to wave the Union Jack though. I know how the business works and that a big American box-office name will help sell the film, but I think there is enough scope in the real-life story to feature enough American participation to help sell the film without taking away the achievements of the British, French, Dutch and Polish prisoners, amongst others, who were stationed at the castle during the war and whose ingenious attempts at escape sometimes defied belief (including building a two-man glider, which sadly was not completed at the time the castle was liberated by the Americans in 1945).
Apparently no director has yet been approached although Weinstein would like to work with "Shakespeare in Love" director John Madden (presumably after Madden has finished making "Captain Corelli's Mandolin") and Weinstein is quoted as referring to casting for the film as "The Draft" "I'm going to be calling everyone, to assemble a great ensemble; it'll be like the draft - the U.S. equivalent of conscription. They won't be able to resist. I've spoken to Tom, Matt and Ben and they're up for it and very interested, but, of course, they have to see a script first. I'd like to match them up with all the young great British actors like Jude Law, Jonny Lee Miller and Ewan McGregor".
Personally, I hope this does come off as I think it's make a great movie if done right and I approve of Weinstein's suggested casting choices (Law, Miller and McGregor have apparently yet to be contacted by Weinstein, which will happen if the film gets the green light and goes into pre-production).
Regards,
Striding Edge
