Movies
New Director Getting Behind the Camera for ‘Prisoners’
The “hottest script in town” might have found its director as it’s being reported that Antoine Fuqua , director of Training Day, is in final negotiations to get behind the camera for Aaron Guzikowski’s hot spec script Prisoners. The project is being fast-tracked, with preproduction set to begin shortly for a likely January or February shoot. “Prisoners” is set up at Alcon, which will release it via Warner Bros. next October. You can read more about the project, how it lost its stars and a more details synopsis below.
Guzikowski created a stir when “Prisoners” first went out earlier this year, with the script attracting interest from high-profile directors such as Bryan Singer. Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale were also attached to star, and a number of studios were keen to pick up the package. None of whom are attached a anymore.
But producers eventually decided to sell to Alcon, which bested entities such as Summit and Relativity, and reconfigured it without cast and with a slightly lower budget (about $30 million-$40 million) so that it could move forward more quickly.
Guzikowski’s dark tale centers on a small-town man who, after his daughter and her friend are kidnapped and the cops fail to solve the crime, takes matters into his own hands, holding hostage the person he suspects committed the crime. He also comes into conflict with the big-city detective assigned to the case. The story has drawn comparisons to a number of hit thrillers involving distraught or grieving parents, including “Taken” and “Mystic River.”
Alcon’s Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson are producing along with 8:38 Prods.’ Kira Davis and Madhouse’s Adam Kolbrenner, with Madhouse’s Robyn Meisinger exec producing.
The CAA-repped Fuqua is best known for “Training Day,” his Oscar-winnining cop drama bout two LAPD narcotics officers. He most recently helmed “Brooklyn’s Finest,” the Ethan Hawke/Don Cheadle Sundance opener that was picked up by Overture from Senator Films. The Millennium/Nu Image pic, a gritty tale of interlocking stories involving a group of New York cops and gangsters, drew mixed reviews in Park City, but Fuqua has been working for several months to re-cut the film.
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland are reteaming for the long-awaited 28 Years Later horror sequel trilogy, with Cillian Murphy on board as executive producer. But will Murphy, who of course starred in 28 Days Later, be reprising his role? It sounds like the answer is a big YES.
Speaking with Deadline this week, Sony Pictures chairman Tom Rothman was flat out asked if Cillian Murphy will be back to star, and his answer suggests that is indeed the plan.
“Yes,” Rothman answered, “but in a surprising way and in a way that grows, let me put it that way.”
He continued, speaking more generally about 28 Years Later, “This is Danny at his best, combined with a very commercial genre, like we had with Edgar Wright and Baby Driver. Sometimes when you put a real signature director into a commercial arena, it elevates it.”
Cillian Murphy played protagonist Jim in 28 Days Later back in 2002, a bicycle courier who ends up being one of the few survivors of the apocalyptic events of the hit infection movie.
28 Years Later arrives in theaters on June 20, 2025 from Sony. The cast also includes Jack O’Connell (Amy Winehouse: Back To Black), Jodie Comer (Alone in the Dark, “Killing Eve”), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kraven the Hunter), and Ralph Fiennes (The Menu).
Alex Garland will write the first film and Boyle will return to direct. Nia DaCosta (Candyman, The Marvels) will direct the second installment in the trilogy from Sony Pictures.
The original movie in 2002 starred Cillian Murphy and was written by Alex Garland and directed by Danny Boyle. In the smash hit horror film, “Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.”
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