Today I read two scripts, two very different scripts. The strange thing was that with no concerted effort on my part they were both BEACON PICTURES films. Now I'm not all that familiar with this company. A look at imdb.com revealed that the company has made films like AIR FORCE ONE, THE BABYSITTER'S CLUB and THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE. Pretty odd selection, but consistent in one thing. They are not anything at all alike. I like that.
The first script I read was for a film called THIRTEEN DAYS. It's about the Cuban Missile Crisis and quite frankly I feel the film is Best Picture material. It tells the story from the point of view of John F Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy and White House Chief of Staff Kenneth O'Donnell.
I have no idea who is playing JFK or RFK, but I do know that Kevin Costner is playing Kenneth O'Donnell, and though a part of me doesn't care for Costner much, I do have to say that he is absolutely perfect for the role. This script makes you understand that JFK and RFK were human beings. I know I tend to forget that sort of thing from time to time, but here it is so strongly evident.
These three men kept level heads, and fought against all odds, to prevent world war III. The script is filled with taut, tense scenes, filled with great characters. This is quite simply the best script I have ever read that has anything to do with a president. If a great director gets attached that can find the perfect people to play JFK, RFK, Stevenson, Dean Rusk, Robert McNamara. Valerian Zorin and Dobrynin.
The main thing is to get people who can embody JFK and RFK. That's the real tough part. You see, by casting someone like Costner as Kenny, well it raises the pole as to who can pull the audiences eyes off of Costner. There are moments in the script where JFK is not feeling up to par, but as soon as he walks through a door, he becomes that figure in history that we all know so well. The same with RFK.
This could be a brilliant film. I just hope they don't drop the ball. I read this script aloud to my father over dinner... at a restaurant. There were points where he and I were actually clutching the table in tension. It brought back that feeling of futility, that sense that nothing you could do could make a difference, that had to be a consensus back then. This was the ultimate KOBYASHI MARU. The plan is to go before cameras in September. I'm dying to hear more on the production side of this film. To be in the U-2 spy plane, to be with Adlai on the floor of the U.N. making Zorin eat his smug words. To beat the no- win scenario. And you will never look at a sunrise the same after the film, if the filmmakers do their job right.
END OF DAYS
Then we swing to the other side of the film barometer. The only awards this project could pray for would be effects, sound, sound effects editing and editing. The project is END OF DAYS and it is another in a long line of Arnold Schwarzeneggar films. Andrew Marlowe, who wrote AIR FORCE ONE, wrote this Ahnuldt flick, and believe me it was obviously written for the man.
This is a film in the realm of THE TERMINATOR and PREDATOR. It's Arnold vs Satan, and the church lady ain't nowhere to be seen. I had received some reports from some people that hated the script, but I go the other route. I love the script. It's a mean and lean Arnold flick, which unfortunately does have the standard Arnold lines, but I have to say there is a marvelous potential for the film.
The character of Satan should be played by someone like Russell Crowe. Someone who at one level could be a charming, loving looking smooth talker, but in an instant be filled with rage, anger and jealousy. Satan is portrayed as someone along the lines of Max Von Sydow in NEEDFUL THINGS mixed with Al Pacino's take on Satan in THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE, mixed with a bit of the older neighbor in ROSEMARY'S BABY.
Do I think the film would be as good as a first draft of Protosevich's I AM LEGEND? No fucking way!!! That script was brilliant, and those dumbshits at Warners should all be fired for having their heads up their collective asses. (Sorry, I feel strongly about that script) Do I want to see it on screen as much as say... Verhoeven's CRUSADE? No way. CRUSADE would singlehandedly make Arnold a mythic action god for the ages, on an even keel with Charlton Heston. Would I think it'd be a wiser move than Arnold playing the lead in Randall Wallace's WITH WINGS AS EAGLES? Ummmmm no way in a million damn years. That part would make Arnold a legitimate actor! Someone with a tad of respect. Do I think it's the best action flick that Arnold could be attached to that's on the market right now? Ummmmm NO, that would be S.W.A.T.
Well, damn Harry how good could it possibly be if you think it's the 5th best Arnold project in the works?
Well, given all those other Arnold projects are just about as perfect a project as could be, in their early drafts at least, it's still a damn cool film. If the end sequence could be realized, imagine the coolest illustrations of St George fighting the dragon, and you still are not anywhere close. The ending is quite honestly better than any end battle in any Arnold film... if and this is a big if... IF it can be done. I'm not entirely convinced that the effects world is quite up to it. (there that ought to annoy someone into getting it done right)
Anyway let me say that BEACON has a couple of sure fire winners on their hands if they don't barnfarcle around ala Warners and over develop to hell these projects. One could be a great film, the other could be one hell of a popcorn flick. Both I would stand in long lines for. The one thing both projects need are great directors. Not someone fresh out of the gate, but a director with the clout to actually boss Costner and Schwarzeneggar around. Someone who could handle those egos. I'm gonna keep my fingers crossed on these two projects...
LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY INFO ON THESE TWO!!!! PLEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!
