Those hoping to see John McTiernan working again (myself included - boy do we need a filmmaker like him right now) may be one teeny, tiny step closer to getting their wish.
In short: seems the creative bug is very much alive in McT - and in the current issue of Empire he discusses two of the projects he’s currently forging. He’s scripted a sequel called THOMAS CROWN AND THE MISSING LIONESS. This is a follow-up to his rather excellent 1999 adaptation of Norman Jewison’s 1968 caper…
“Nebuchadnezzar had two lion statues commissioned in 1100BC: a male and a female,” explained McTiernan of the title’s provenance. “Alexander the Great took them when he conquered Persia. Mark Antony had them taken to Rome. Constantine moved them to Constantinople. And at some point the lioness went missing. The movie is about what happens when it turns up at an auction. By the way, it’s all bullshit; none of that ever happened.”
…says THIS piece at Empire, which goes on to reveal McTiernan is still working on the previously announced RED SQUARE - which at one point had Nicolas Cage and Colin Farrell attached. Empire says…
…per the synopsis we have so far, involves a former DEA agent (presumably Cage, should he sign on) who has gone rogue and runs a team of mercenaries. Their latest mission takes them to Mexico, to take out a drug lord.
While it’s entirely feasible neither of these projects will ever see the light of day, the important takeaway from this news is that McTiernan hasn’t given up hope of stepping behind the camera once more. With another EXPENDABLES film in the works, persistent indicators of a new DIE HARD picture, and so many more McT-ish projects currently spinning around…who knows? Anything is possible.
I mean, hell, I don’t think this would ever happen given the day-to-day political realities driving the franchises — but I would erupt into an ELG (Extinction Level Geekasm) if I ever heard the news that McTiernan was helming a STAR TREK or STAR WARS or Marvel movie. I always thought he’d make a rather amazing BATMAN film, for example.
Could such wild ponderings ever actualize? I honestly can not say. But they're fun to think about all the same…
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Glen Oliver
"Merrick"
