It has been a couple of years since Michael Mann‘s period gangster pic “Public Enemies” which, depending on who you ask, was either an underrated gem or (in this writer’s opinion) a moody misfire. That’s not to say Mann hasn’t been busy. He’s got the HBO horse racing drama led by Dustin Hoffman coming around the track and he’s got more than a couple options for his next feature including the medieval tale “Agincourt” and another gangster pic in “Big Tuna” which “Up In The Air” writer Sheldon Turner was brought on to write last fall. In addition he’s got the war photog biopic on Robert Capa in the works, and now, Mann has added another pic to his growing plate.
Deadline reports that he is seriously considering directing “Gold” for his next feature film. Developed by Paul Haggis, and penned by Patrick Masset and John Zinman (“Friday Night Lights“) plot details are scarce but it’s said to be a contemporary story set in the world of gold prospectors and speculators, sort of like a modern day “Treasure Of The Sierra Madre.”
Will it move forward? Guess we’ll have to see. Mann will produce the pic under his shingle Forward Pass along with Haggis’s Highway 61 but no studio is yet on board. The days of the majors doing expensive dramas are dwindling, so we imagine he’ll have to shop it to the indie houses to get financing. Will someone give Mann $100 million plus for a movie? Even with a big star attached, these days, we kind of doubt it, so it’ll be interesting to see how this develops and where it lands. If anything, we hope this gives people an excuse to watch ‘Sierra Madre’ because it totally rules and a modern day film with that kind of vibe could be amazing.
