Ron Howard To Helm 'Spy vs Spy'

[WyldeMan45]

Remember Spy vs. Spy, the running comic strip of one-ups-manship between rival spooks from Mad Magazine? A live-action bigscreen version is moving forward at Warner Bros for Ron Howard to direct. David Koepp will produce with Howard and his Imagine Entertainment partner Brian Grazer. Right now, Koepp will oversee a script that will be written by John Kamps. Kamps just teamed with Koepp to write Premium Rush, the Sony Pictures movie directed by Koepp, who also just rewrote the Jack Ryan film for Paramount Pictures. The film will be a physical and highly visual action comedy with two spies going mano a mano in ruthless fashion.

Spy Vs. Spy will be down the line for Howard, who always has a busy dance card. As Howard and Grazer and Akiva Goldsman prepare to turn in the rewrite of The Dark Tower over the next couple of weeks to see if Universal Pictures will fund the ambitious adaptation of the Stephen King novel series planned to span three films and two TV series runs, Howard has been eyeing projects he might be able to squeeze in before. He met on the film that'll have Tom Hanks playing Captain Richard Phillips, who gave himself up to be a hostage to Somali pirates, that Paul Greengrass has wound up directing. He's been rumored for a Frankenstein project at 20th Century Fox that Max Landis is writing for producer John Davis. And he is getting serious about Rush, the Peter Morgan-scripted film about Formula one racer Niki Lauda. The latter project seems to have the strongest chance of happening, but only if it can start in the fall. In an interview I did with Howard and Grazer to commemorate Imagine's 25th anniversary, they told me in no uncertain terms they are determined to make The Dark Tower early next year, whether at Universal or elsewhere. I believe them.

[ScarredLungs]

This should be interesting. Ron Howard has done some great movies and I think he could bring this to life.

[Walts Ghost]

I think this would be better animated...I love Spy vs Spy, so I'm looking forward to see how this plays out.

[WyldeMan45]

Originally Posted by Walts Ghost

I think this would be better animated...I love Spy vs Spy, so I'm looking forward to see how this plays out.

Tom Hanks will be one half most likely.

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Originally Posted by Walts Ghost

I think this would be better animated...I love Spy vs Spy, so I'm looking forward to see how this plays out.

Ditto.

[Walts Ghost]

Originally Posted by WyldeMan45

Tom Hanks will be one half most likely.

I'd be ok with that. Probably Tom Hanks and Russell Crowe haha.

[Walts Ghost]

Originally Posted by J. J. Hunsecker

Ditto.

Glad I'm not alone in that. The characters just have such distinctive looks, I just can't seem them as anything but cartoons...They aren't really characters I see being converted well to live action.

[EricJ]

Let's hope it's not the same script that was floating around/rejected by studios in the 90's--That one was....pretty bad.