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While Leonardo DiCaprio is likely to next star in the Clint Eastwood’-directed Hoover, he’s also eyeing another A-list filmmaker for a different screen vehicle. DiCaprio’s having early talks with Oliver Stone to direct The Deep Blue Good-By, an adaptation of the John D. MacDonald mystery novel series. DiCaprio and his Appian Way’ cohort Jennifer Davisson-Killoran are producing with Amy Robinson and Peter Chernin. Dana Stevens and Kario Salem wrote the script. The project is set up at 20th Century Fox, and DiCaprio has long wanted to play Travis McGee, a beach bum who lives on the houseboat The Busted Flush. When he needs money, McGee takes “salvage consultant” jobs, recovering property for clients, taking a big percentage, and getting into misadventures along the way. The book was originally published in 1964, the first of a 21-volume series. No commitment from Stone yet, but it looks promising. Stone’s tentatively planning to follow Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps with Savages, an adaptation of an upcoming novel by Don Winslow that Stone is scripting with the author.
Stone, DiCaprio on ‘Deep Blue Goodbye’?
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DiCaprio as Travis? Oh the horror. You can bet they will serve appletinis on the Busted Flush.
And to add insult to injury, Oliver Stone behind the camera? This will kill the series after one film. What a shame.
LMAO,
ever since this site got popular, the comments have gone from actual serious comments about the business of the movie, to hilarious cuts at anyone whose in the project
Travis… Josh Holloway
Meyer… Jack Black.
Director… almost anyone but Stone. Talk about just wrong.
Has anyone involved even read the books? This isn’t the health care bill, this is serious fun! At least read the back cover! No wonder John McDonald fought to protect his characters from Tinseltown so hard.
the good news is that both leo and stone are fans of travis. That is what we need; someone who understands.
kill what series? Millions are waiting for the first. stone may not have time to do the 21 but would like to do at least the first 8. leo could do 5 or 6 before he’s too old. we can worry about the others later.
This sounds whimsical and fun. Why in the world would Oliver Stone be directing it?
Travis McGee books are exactly that, bubble gum for your brain. I saw the post and thought perhaps LD was taking the advice of all the posters in the Hoover project thread and doing a bit of comedy. Then I saw that Stone was involved…
macdonald was the best american writer ever. The film will be less whimsical than 007; and better
Sounds like a waste of time, money, and energy.
I predict a 80 million plus weekend; hardley a waste of money. You have no idea how many people have been waiting for this movie.
Wrong director, wrong star. Seriously-I’m not a big fan of the books, but this is just way off.
Well I AM a fan of the book, and the Travis McGee series. But I confess I’m mystified.
Stone has surprised us before, showing he’s able to do what many were sure he couldn’t. Maybe he could pull it off. But DeCaprio? I actually like him, but as Travis McGee? Who couldn’t be more wrong physically. Don’t get it. Don’t see it.
leo is taller than you think; not 6’4″ but tall enough to get by. First you need someone that knows travis and he does.
I can’t be the only one tiring of DiCaprio, can I?
you might be the only one. he’s easily one of the top 10 best actors in the world. he consistently does great work and is part of great films.
Nope – he is boring me senseless as well
yes you can, some people wouldn’t mind seeing Leo Daily.
thanks bye
Well I’m a huge fan of the books, read every on of them. This is a horrible idea, both are terrible choices, especially Stone. What a shame. A real shame.
couldn’t agree more that this is a bad idea… the Travis McGee series was great, and i just don’t see Stone or DiCaprio doing it justice. I see it turning into a disaster much like what occurred with the Dirk Pitt series. Totally wrong director and lead actor.
I read and loved the Dana Stevens version of this; not sure that’s the one that they used to get Leo, but Stone’s a bad choice. Had heard Fincher was looking at this, maybe they could get him after he’s done with the Facebook movie.
No wonder why DiCaprio doesn’t have an agent. With these kind of offers, keep that commission.
These are really hard books to do right. This is not the way.
Dicaprio is great, when he doesn’t have an accent or try to be tough. But that is all he seems to want to do. Seriously. The guy is softer than the center of a twinkie and pretty like a tranny. He should stick to smiley and charming, like he was in Catch Me. He is testosterone deficient.
Poor Travis,
It didn’t work for Rod Taylor, it didn’t work for Sam Eliot, it doesn’t seem like a good fit for Leonardo.
Travis has refused to be captured on film. The books have so many set points, The Busted Flush, Miss Agnes not to mention Meyer, the John Maynard Keynes and his other neighbors.
It is the first in the series so Travis is not as worn or weary as he becomes, so i guess it might work.
Here’s wishing them luck and hoping if Stone gets on the job his touch is a bit more restrained.
acually taylor was a good travis. the director did it all wrong. the movie was too dark and it was filled with first takes; probably the low budget. leo and stone can raise the money to do it right and both are fans of the books.
I don’t like DiCaprio on this, should be Matthew McConaughey.
Say what you want of Oliver Stone – the man is at least a proven MAN, not some impersonating a-hole whimp.
Get Matthew McConaughey!
are you kidding” Matthew is even shorter that leo and does not have the acting range. anyone who has read the books knows that matthew is a terrible miscast.
Arrrrrgh! DiCaprio as Travis McGee. Please say it isn’t true. I heard this was in development years ago for Harrison Ford – even then I was disappointed. (Ford should play Doc Ford in the Randy Wayne White series). Please let Travis McGee exist in our minds and memories. Don’t attach a name like DiCaprio to that hallmark of Florida fiction?
OMG, DiCaprio as McGee? The horror… Travis McGee was a big, tough, smart guy, like the precursor to Robert Parker’s Spenser character. DiCaprio is short, effete man and he would totally ruin the franchise. It’d be like casting Clooney as Batman… Oh, right, they did that — how did that work out for everyone? To play McGee, you need a taller version of Daniel Craig or Matt Damon. Or maybe one of them could play the role in lifts…
DiCaprio is 5′ 11″. That’s not short. What’s effete about him? Refined perhaps, not effete! As an actor he remains the best hope at greatness from his generation.
You people are insane. Trashing DiCaprio and then suggesting McConaughey and Jack Black, two of the worst actors in the business?
I’m terribly conflicted over this news. On the one hand, MacDonald’s Travis McGee (who debuted in 1964) is the prototype for at least two generations of first-person PI-type heroes–from Spenser to Elvis Cole and Doc Ford. Granted, Hammett and Chandler and Ross MacDonald broke ground for the classic American PI, but McGee is its highest form. (Strictly speaking, he’s not a PI but a “salvage consultant.”) Normally I’d be over the moon about a McGee movie franchise. Now, ON THE OTHER HAND… McGee is an ex-pro football player, a tight end if I recall correctly; a real tough guy. I think Eastwood (way too old), Nolte (too old), Harrison Ford (ditto), Neeson, Kurt Russell. Other guys who could pull it off might include Crowe, Clooney, Hanks, Pitt, Damon, Butler, Will Smith… But DiCaprio, with his baby face and his little voice? He is about the very last movie star I would pick to play McGee. I’m not a DiCaprio fan in the first place, and to have him playing Travis McGee is a really, really bad idea.
I don’t know. People like to talk about DiCaprio’s inability to play a masculine character. Blood Diamond, The Departed, Gangs of New York. All pretty masculine roles, and all were great films. Maybe he’s got the baby face look, but there’s ways around that. Brad Pitt looked like a freak in 12 Monkeys. Regardless, he’s a great actor, and if he’s as passionate about this project as it sounds, I’m sure he’ll do justice to the role.
This is news to me. I thought he did well in Catch Me If You Can, so maybe he’ll pull this off.
Oh, please! I like LD, but not for this. Read all the books, some twice. Stone? Maybe. 30 years ago it would have been perfect role for the guy in “The Great White Hope” (can’t remember his name). They should try to get someone unknown who has the size and rugged good looks. Maybe audition all the NFL tight ends.
DiCaprio as Travis McGee? What, Crispin Glover wasn’t available?
What a disappointment. I have read all of the Travis McGee books at least twice as well as all of the other authors that MacDonald spawned. I don’t think the books will translate into a movie franchise and will go the way of some of the Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen books – great books but poor movies. The Spenser novels were good but translated into a TV show format better. Not only did MacDonald spawn a whole writing genre, but look at many of the popular characters that are homages – Magnum PI, Spenser, Dan Tana, et. al.
I always thought Nick Nolte was the McGee type. Certainly not DiCaprio who lacks masculinity (and I don’t mean that as an insult.)
DiCaprio is a fine actor but can’t act 6’4″. He can’t possibly pull off the physicality of McGee. That can’t be acted. If you put Clive Owen into the gym for some toughening up, he could pull off McGee. John Rhys-Davies was always Meyer for me. I’m glad somebody is appreciating Travis McGee enough to try to get it on film again, but every attempt so far has been weak.
i always imagined Steve McQueen as McGee. And putting the actor and director aside, i don’t think the social commentary will translate well from page to screen, and that commentary was half of what made the books great-the other half being McGee himself so if you one or both-its over.
McConaughey isn’t a bad choice – I think he’s a better actor than DiCaprio because he keeps surviving these awful pissass movies.
DiCaprio could not pull a Fool’s Gold and get away with it.
Those who say Harrison Ford – what about Jeff Bridges? He’s tall as hell, grey in the membrane and knows his way around a ship (was in the Coast Guard).
When reading the books I certainly imagine a Nick Nolte cirka Under Fire.
Alas, Gene Hackman played McGee in Night Moves. And kicked ass.
Seriously, Steve McQueen? The guy’s dead…
First off, they want to change the name of the film to TRAVIS MCGEE instead of the much better THE LONG BLUE GOODBYE, which tells me they are losing the sense of it already. Maybe Stone could pull it off. Maybe. DiCaprio also COULD pull it off with the right script. He somewhat resembles the drawn portrait of McGee that appeared on the early series of books.I would prefer Matt McConughey as McGee myself. He fits the image and is the right age. McConaughey has the range. He just hasn’t had the chance to show it yet. To the person who said McConughey was a bad Dirk Pitt in SAHARA has it all wrong. McConughey was selected by Clive Cussler himself to play his creation and he was perfect. He also would be a great McGee.He’s got the right personality for it. But let’s hope they keep the title of the book as the title of the film. Calling it TRAVIS MCGEE makes no sense.
Aaron Eckhart as Travis
Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Meyer (although he doesn’t appear in the first novel.)
I think DiCaprio is great in the right movies, and I have to admit that Blood Diamond upped my respect for him as an action hero type (but for crying out loud don’t let him do any more accents!) but to me he’ll always be the skinny kid with a big head in The Beach.
Travis McGee was 6’4″ and rangy, angular and hardened, a pro football player, a Korean war vet.
The problem with turning any McGee novel into a movie is that the compelling part of the books is Travis’s stream of conciousness philosophy delivered in episodes as the stories unfold. Without that, Deep Blue Good Bye especially of all the novels, doesn’t offer much to rivet viewers to the screen. This is going to make Stone and DiCaprio antsy and they’re going to tinker with perfection.
It’s going to be very very hard to pull off.
Sorry, McConaughey moves too fast too jerky too quick too small. Travis needs to be a little slower, bigger, and loping – like – Magnum (Tom Selleck)sans mustache – dark, beguilingly slow, fast when he has to be, big, handsome.