Joe Carnahan on "The Grey"

[WyldeMan45]

I really like Carnahan's work, and The Grey sounds pretty damn good.

Out doing promotion for the direct-to-DVD sequel "Smokin' Aces 2", director Joe Carnahan tells Cinematical that he hasn't finalised his next project yet but has one in mind.

"There's a film that I wrote that I want to do called The Grey which is about a group of pipeline workers in Alaska flying back into civilization after being remote for a number of months. The 737 they're on goes down, and they begin to be hunted by a pack of rogue wolves. It's very much a man vs. nature adventure, existentialist kind of drama that I want to do. We're very, very close to it now" says Carnahan.

Two other projects he's been attached to, the Pablo Escobar biopic "Killing Pablo" and the James Ellroy adaptation "White Jazz", are still very much on the cards for him. Ellroy himself has said the 'Jazz' film was pretty much dead, but Carnahan is more optimistic - "I think if we can do it for a number, and that number is gonna be...about $12, then we can make that movie. I think it's a tremendous script, and I think there's always a place for that kind of movie."

He definitely won't be doing "Bunny Lake is Missing", the Reese Witherspoon project he was attached to before it fell apart. Now he says "I'm glad didn't move forward because in hindsight I think it would have probably been a mistake".

Carnahan's next film is "The A-Team" film adaptation which hits this Summer. For more comments about his upcoming schedule, click here.

[OrlandoEastwood]

White Jazz fell apart because Chris Pine left it to do Star Trek. The Grey sounds interesting, I'd watch it.

[WyldeMan45]

Originally Posted by OrlandoEastwood

White Jazz fell apart because Chris Pine left it to do Star Trek. The Grey sounds interesting, I'd watch it.

I just rewatched Smokin Aces earlier today for like the 10th time, and I love how absolutely insane Pine was in that. I wonder if he'd work with Carnahan again, or if he's too big of a star. He seems pretty humble and down to earth in his interviews, just like his dad, so i'd expect him to pop up in The Grey.

[WyldeMan45]

Well it's been a long time since I started this thread, and finally some solid news.

'The Grey' Has Bidders Hungry After 30-Minute Reel

Based on a 30-minute reel being shown to distributors as we speak, bidding is getting hot and heavy on The Grey, the Joe Carnahan-directed drama about an oil-drilling team struggling to survive in the wilds of Alaska after their plane crashes smack in the middle of a territorial rogue wolf pack. Liam Neeson, Dallas Roberts, James Badge Dale, Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo, Nonso Anozie and Joe Anderson star in the film. CAA is shopping the Scott Free-produced pic, and I've heard that Warner Bros, Open Road, Summit, Lionsgate, The Weinstein Company and FilmDistrict are all in the mix.

The movie's had heat on it since CAA showed a three-minute reel right after the Cannes Film Festival. The ask is in the $8 million range minimum guarantee and a release upwards of 3000 screens and the deal will certainly be in the seven-figures based on what I've heard about the footage. But the bidding is complicated by one thing: the filmmakers are insisting that The Grey be released later this year. It makes sense for a cold-weather film that has a Neeson performance that could be in the Oscar mix. And the film is ready to build buzz that starts with festivals like Toronto. The complication is, several of the distributors have crowded late-year release schedules. This could give an edge to a distributor like Tom Ortenberg's Open Road, which is looking for exactly this kind of wide-release film. I believe a deal will be made on this one quick and will keep Deadline readers posted.

[WyldeMan45]

Open Road Acquiring U.S. Rights

Open Road is in the final stages of acquiring U.S. rights to Joe Carnahan's The Grey, and it's shaping up to be a whopper of a deal. The numbers I'm hearing are in the $8 million minimum guarantee range, with a $25 million P&A commitment and a gross corridor built in. Deadline told you Wednesday there was heat on the finished film as CAA was showing a 30-minute reel to buyers all week. The film is about an oil-drilling team struggling to survive in the wilds of Alaska after their plane crashes smack in the middle of a territorial rogue wolf pack, with Liam Neeson, Dallas Roberts, James Badge Dale, Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo, Nonso Anozie and Joe Anderson starring. Scott Free's Jules Daly produced the film with Mickey Liddell. I'd heard that Warner Bros, Open Road, Summit, Lionsgate, The Weinstein Company and FilmDistrict were all in the mix.

Nobody was confirming, and Open Road chief Tom Ortenberg didn't return a text and a call, but the deal could be sealed by this evening. It gives Open Road a major film for its inaugural slate after being launched earlier this year by theater chains AMC and Regal. Ortenberg has been in the mix on numerous high-profile films shopped for acquisition, and Open Road also acquired The Host, the Andrew Niccol-directed adaptation of the novel by Twilight Saga's Stephenie Meyer that will star Saoirse Ronan. The film will be released March 29, 2013, which is Easter weekend.

No word yet on when The Grey will be released, but a major part of the deal was the insistence that The Grey be released later this year on as many as 4,000 screens. I've heard from buyers who viewed the footage that Neeson is quite good in those scenes and could be an awards-season contender. It also makes sense that a movie set in the frozen tundra would be released in the winter. But it complicated matters for some distributors that have crowded Oscar-season schedules. Watch for the film to lock in a slot at one of the fall festivals like Toronto. Stay tuned.

[kubrickfincher]

It's a good script and I"m sure it'll be a tense flick... but the ending... I really hope they rewrote it because people will be laughing their ass off.

[detective392]

Liam Neeson's The Grey a Go

Open Road Films has acquired the U.S. rights to the highly anticipated, action-packed survival thriller, The Grey, directed by Joe Carnahan (A-Team, Smokin' Aces, Narc) and starring Liam Neeson, from Liddell Entertainment. The announcement was made today by Tom Ortenberg, CEO of Open Road Films and Mickey Liddell, CEO of Liddell Entertainment.

In The Grey, a group of oil-rig roughnecks are left stranded on the sub-arctic tundra after their plane experiences a complete mechanical failure and crashes into the remote Alaskan wilderness. The survivors, battling mortal injuries, biting cold and ravenous hunger, are relentlessly hunted and pursued by a vicious pack of rogue wolves. Liam Neeson plays the leader of the team, which also features Frank Grillo (upcoming Warrior and Lay the Favorite), Dermot Mulroney (Burn After Reading, About Schmidt), Dallas Roberts (The Good Wife, 3:10 to Yuma), Joe Anderson (Across the Universe), James Badge Dale (upcoming World War Z, The Conspirator, HBO's The Pacific), Nonso Anozie (upcoming Conan the Barbarian, Atonement, RocknRolla).

http://movies.ign.com/articles/118/1182607p1.html

[ForEver Blu]

Really enjoyed Smokin Aces and Narc is criminally underrated.


Count Me in.





Ray Liotta was ROBBED of an Oscar Nomination, that's my story and I'm stickin to it.