MGM Buys Ludlum’s ‘The Matarese Circle’ for $3 million
With an eye on the success of the Bourne spy franchise, MGM has snapped up movie rights to another Robert Ludlum thriller.
In its first major material deal made since Mary Parent took over as head of MGM’s worldwide motion picture group, the studio ponied up for “The Matarese Circle,” a 1979 book by Robert Ludlum.
The book sold for $3 million, with another seven-figures to be paid to screenwriters Michael Brandt and Derek Haas according to Variety.
Ryan Kavanaugh’s Relativity Media will co-finance the film, and Denzel Washington is attached to star.
Like many books by the late Ludlum, “The Matarese Circle” is set during the Cold War. The book pairs rival spies, one from the CIA and the other from the KGB, who bury the hatchet for the moment because only they possess the smarts and killing abilities to go up against an international circle of criminals called the Matarese. Insiders said the Cold War tensions will be dropped and the storyline contemporized.
Ludlum wrote a second book — “The Matarese Countdown” — that was not part of the deal. More than likely, a screen sequel would come from an original story.
While MGM’s $3 million buy is likely the largest sum paid for a book so far this year, it’s not extreme for Ludlum. Universal recently reengaged Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon to return for a fourth Jason Bourne thriller, and in 2005, Paramount paid $4 million for Ludlum’s “The Chancellor Manuscript,” a thriller that sold with a Leonardo DiCaprio attachment.
Denzel Washington in ‘Matarese Circle’
Denzel Washington will be joining another action thriller project. He has been attached to star in “The Matarese Circle” a film adaptation of Robert Ludlum’s novel.
Unlike in the Universal Pictures’ action drama “American Gangster“, the 53-year-old actor would be portraying the good guy in this film. Hollywood Reporter claimed that an insider revealed that the Academy Award recipient will bring Bradley Scofield, an American secret agent, to the big screen.
Said to be produced by veteran producers, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Nick Wechsler, “Matarese” centers on the collaboration of two nemeses secret agents, an American Scofield and a Russian Vasili Taleniekov.
The two are forced to work together in order to fight a mysterious murderer group called the Matarese. The script allegedly will be written by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, who both are said to be attached to the project.
Presenters At The Kodak Theatre
The strike is off and the star power is on for the 80th annual Academy Awards.
Presenters at the Kodak Theatre will include all four of last year’s winners in the acting categories - Alan Arkin, Jennifer Hudson, Helen Mirren and Forest Whitaker.
George Clooney, Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett and Cameron Diaz will be among the presenters at the Feb. 24 ceremony at the Kodak Theatre, Oscar officials announced Thursday.
Hollywood icons Tom Hanks, Harrison Ford, Martin Scorsese and Denzel Washington will also take to the stage, said telecast producer Gil Cates and film academy President Sid Ganis.
Other presenters named are Amy Adams, Jessica Alba, Josh Brolin, Steve Carell, Penelope Cruz, Miley Cyrus, Patrick Dempsey, Cameron Diaz, Colin Farrell, Jennifer Garner, Anne Hathaway, Katherine Heigl, Jonah Hill, Dwayne Johnson, James McAvoy, Queen Latifah, Seth Rogen, Martin Scorsese, Hilary Swank, John Travolta and Renee Zellweger.
Jon Stewart was previously announced as the show’s host.
This will mark Stewart’s second stint as Oscar host. Stewart hosted the Grammy Awards in 2001 and 2002.
“Jon was a terrific host for the 78th Awards,” said Cates. “He is smart, quick, funny, loves movies and is a great guy. What else could one ask for?” said producer Gil Cates.
The show will also feature performances of the year’s five nominated songs. ‘Enchanted’ star Amy Adams will sing ‘Happy Working Song’, one of the film’s three nominated tunes. Kristin Chenoweth and Marlon Saunders will perform ‘That’s How You Know’, and Jon McLaughlin will sing ‘So Close’, also from ‘Enchanted’.
The stars of Once, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, will perform their song ‘Falling Slowly’. Jamia Simone Nash, along with the IMPACT repertory Theatre of Harlem, will sing ‘Raise It Up’ from August Rush.
American Gangster
Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Brian Grazer, Steve Zaillian and Ridley Scott team to tell the true juggernaut success story of a cult hero from the streets of 1970s Harlem in American Gangster.
Nobody used to notice Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington), the quiet driver to one of the inner city’s leading black crime bosses. But when his boss suddenly dies, Frank exploits the opening in the power structure to build his own empire and create his own version of the American Dream. Through ingenuity and a strict business ethic, he comes to rule the inner-city drug trade, flooding the streets with a purer product at a better price. Lucas outplays all of the leading crime syndicates and becomes not only one of the city’s mainline corrupters, but part of its circle of legit civic superstars.
Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) is an outcast cop close enough to the streets to feel a shift of control in the drug underworld. Roberts believes someone is climbing the rungs above the known Mafia families and starts to suspect that a black power player has come from nowhere to dominate the scene. Both Lucas and Roberts share a rigorous ethical code that sets them apart from their own colleagues, making them lone figures on opposite sides of the law. The destinies of these two men will become intertwined as they approach a confrontation where only one of them can come out on top.
