Lawrence Block & Matt Scudder Film News!

According to Deadline.com Liam Neeson is set to star as Matt Scudder in A Walk Among the Tombstones, the Scott Frank-scripted adaptation of the Lawrence Block book series. The movie will begin production February, 2013 in New York and is the first film in a new three-year deal between Exclusive Media and Cross Creek Pictures to develop, finance and produce at least two films per year, with budgets up to $65 million.


In A Walk Among the Tombstones, Neeson plays Scudder at the time he’s an ex-NYPD cop and unlicensed private detective and recovering alcoholic. He’s hired to find the kidnapped wife of a drug dealer.

Matt Scudder is the most well-known of all the characters created by Lawrence Block. He debuted in 1976's The Sins of the Fathers as an alcoholic ex-cop who had recently quit the NYPD and left his family after accidentally causing the death of a young girl. A Walk Among the Tombstones is the twelfth book in the series and was published in 1992.

 More information can also be found at Indiewire.

London Boulevard

News from my friend David Thompson’s Busted Flush Blog is that Ken Bruen’s London Boulevard will start filming soon with Colin Farrell and Kiera Knightley on board.

Oscar Winner William Monahan (screenwriter of The Departed) is set to direct the film which is due to start filming during the summer.

London Boulevard is the story of criminal known as Mitchell. When Mitchell is released from prison after serving three years for a vicious attack he doesn't even remember, Billy Norton is there to pick him up. But Norton works for Tommy Logan, a ruthless lowlife with plans Mitchell wants nothing to do with. Attempting to stay out of Logan's way, Mitchell finds work at the Holland Park mansion of faded movie actress, Lillian Palmer. But it isn't long before Mitchell's violent past catches up with him. When innocent people start getting killed and his eccentric sister's life is put in danger, Mitchell is forced to act.

If done well London Boulevard will certainly be worth going to see.

On the Film Front

The Captain Alartiste series by Arturo Perez Reverte is a literary phenomenon in Europe, selling over 5 million copies worldwide. Viggo Mortensen plays the Spanish soldier-turned-mercenary Captain Alatriste, a heroic figure from the country's 17th century imperial wars in the film Alartiste, due to be released in the UK. It is directed by Agustín Díaz Yanes.

Touting Mel Brooks as the creator, the big-screen version of the classic 1960s TV series GET SMART is planned to start shooting in Spring 2007. Ann Hathaway plays Agent 99 and Steve Carrell as Maxwell Smart (and also produces). At the helm is Peter Segal who gave us The Longest Yard, 50 First Dates, Anger Management and Nutty Professor II. Thank God he didn’t inflict Ben Stiller on us in the role of Maxwell. Don Adams himself starred in first "Get Smart" movie, 1980's The Nude Bomb, which was nothing but a bomb at the box office. Adams died on Sept. 25 2005.

And here’s something to look forward to
Rambo IV: Pearl of the Cobra
The plotline: John Rambo has been living a secluded lifestyle in Bangkok and salvaging old boats and tanks for scrap for twelve years. But when a group of volunteer aid workers bringing supplies into Burma disappear, a relative of one of the missing missionaries begs Rambo to find them. He heads off with a small team of aspiring heroes to locate and rescue them. Sly is back as John Rambo and directs, the screenplay is by Art Monterastelli based on David Morrell’s characters.

Boston Teran’s award-winning GOD IS A BULLET is being made into a film. All that is known so far is that Nick (son of John) Cassavetes will direct and has written the screenplay. Previously directed films include Alpha Dog and Unhook the Stars. We won’t mention his foray into porn films, eh?