UTA Directors Pull ‘The Tourist’ Switcharoo

COMMENTS (17)

• Cuaron is brilliant, he will do a better job

  Comment by Big J — Wednesday November 4, 2009 @ 5:22pm PST  Reply to this post

• Well this is surprising since Jolie was the one who wanted Von Donnersmarck in the first place. It would probably be in the producers best interest not to piss her off by firing her top choice of director.

  This whole project has been a huge game of musical chairs. It’ll be interesting to see what’s next for this movie.

  Comment by fresh — Wednesday November 4, 2009 @ 6:42pm PST  Reply to this post

• Oh God, is this Claire Noto’s The Tourist, the one that’s been in pretty much constant development since, what, 1975? If it is, my entire life savings says it never gets made.

  Comment by Marko — Wednesday November 4, 2009 @ 7:08pm PST  Reply to this post

• what is it with this project? creative differences can’t explain all of the musical chairs. i don’t really trust angelina jolie’s judgment on projects, but a depp/cuaron team would be great.

  Comment by interesting — Wednesday November 4, 2009 @ 7:35pm PST  Reply to this post

• Florian is difficult and demanding but it has nothing to do with him being an auteur. I met him at AFM back before “Lives Of Others” did anything stateside and he was a douchebag, very tightly wound and would snap at just about anything. This guy is better suited to an individual artistic pursuit, not studio filmmaking or anything else involving interpersonal skills.

  Comment by Tom — Wednesday November 4, 2009 @ 7:47pm PST  Reply to this post

• this is a big middle finger to Disney…no Pirates XX in the summer after they fired Dick Cook for Johnny

  Comment by Jim P — Wednesday November 4, 2009 @ 9:37pm PST  Reply to this post

• Did Worthington walk out or was he let go?

  Comment by Hmmm — Wednesday November 4, 2009 @ 11:28pm PST  Reply to this post

• Over here in Munich we have had the same experiences with FHD. He’s a douchebag and a loner.

  Comment by Uli — Wednesday November 4, 2009 @ 11:55pm PST  Reply to this post

• The Lives of Others was an utterly brilliant film – probably one of the best of the decade. It is currently ranked #57 on IMDB’s all time 250 with a score of 8.5 . He knows what he is doing. They should be glad he was involved to begin with. Not that Alfonso Cuaron is a bad choice.

  I am happy he was kicked off the project before it started. Look at what happened with Oliver Hirschbiegel after he directed the modern classic Der Undertung. Joel Silver came calling and all that remains is the monstrosity otherwise known as The Invasion.

  Comment by Alex — Thursday November 5, 2009 @ 2:20am PST  Reply to this post

• Isn’t it also possible that when Depp expressed interest, that the producers decided to get rid of the other guy, Sam whatshisname? It seems as though UTA just took over this project.

  Comment by anon — Thursday November 5, 2009 @ 4:50am PST  Reply to this post

• Florian is a very difficult person, was extremely rude to any and all during the LIVES OF OTHERS process and was paid back in spades by being shut out by the people who actually do the work in Hollywood. His best chance is to go back to Germany – except he’s pissed off everyone there too so he might have to do another TV movie – which is what LIVES OF OTHERS was in the first place

  Comment by in the know — Thursday November 5, 2009 @ 7:01am PST  Reply to this post

• Spare a thought for one of the nicest guys in showbiz, Bharat Nalluri, the Brit-Indian director who was previously tapped to helm this baby with Tom Cruise and Charlize Theron.

  Comment by Christie — Thursday November 5, 2009 @ 7:11am PST  Reply to this post

• UTA is all about the family. I used to joke that UTA would say to a client: “I got a GREAT idea for the lead in this script. ______. He’ll knock it out of the park!”

  “You mean, your assistant?”

  “He’s all talent, baby!”

  “Jeez, you guys ain’t kidding when you talk packaging.”

  Comment by Zach Hutton — Thursday November 5, 2009 @ 7:17am PST  Reply to this post

• I’ve interviewed Florian before and he’s truly one of the nicest, least pretentious filmmakers I’ve ever spoken with. His follow-up to Lives of Others is expected to be nothing short of great. So if this project wasn’t working out as he expected, then jumping ship is understandable.

  Comment by Terry Keefe — Thursday November 5, 2009 @ 8:52am PST  Reply to this post

• I think anything starring Angelina /Johnny Combo would be an instant Box Office success. even if the movie sucks!

  Comment by marie — Thursday November 5, 2009 @ 9:07am PST  Reply to this post

• ha ha Florian, Hollywood doesn’t come with instructions! (ps I loved The Lives of Others)

  Comment by Buck Zollo — Thursday November 5, 2009 @ 10:10am PST  Reply to this post

• Oh, no. They haven’t inked Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck? They have to get Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck! I mean, how could a quality film be made without Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck? Like Borge’s “Tlon,” one day the world will be Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. And when the world is Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, I, for one will be grateful. And I’ll bet Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck will be touched, too.

  Comment by Douglas Edward Fresh — Thursday November 5, 2009 @ 1:56pm PST  Reply to this post