Damien Chazelle just pulled a Hollywood heist—ditching Leonardo DiCaprio’s Evel Knievel biopic for a prison thriller starring Daniel Craig and Cillian Murphy. And the twist? This wasn’t Plan A. It wasn’t even Plan B. It’s the salvage operation of a director scrambling after a star’s paycheck demands torpedoed his dream project.
Why This Changes Everything (Or Nothing)
- The Insane Detail: Chazelle was already working with DiCaprio on the prison script before they swerved to Knievel—only for Leo to bail for Scorsese (again). Now, the prison project is back, like a cinematic boomerang.
- The Savage Comparison: This is Whiplash meets Shawshank Redemption—if Fletcher traded his drumsticks for a shiv. Chazelle’s last film, Babylon, bombed so hard it cost Paramount $87M. A prison might be the perfect metaphor for his comeback.
The Hidden Story
Hollywood’s recycling bin is overflowing with abandoned DiCaprio projects (remember The Crowded Room?). But here’s the kicker: Craig and Murphy are upgrades.
- Murphy, fresh off his Oppenheimer Oscar, is Hollywood’s hottest introvert.
- Craig, post-Bond, is carving a niche as the detective who outsmarts everyone (Knives Out) and now, possibly, a convict who outsmarts the system.
Anonymous Industry Whisper: “Leo wanted Scorsese money for a stuntman role. Paramount said ‘hard pass.’ Chazelle grabbed Craig and Murphy before their schedules went peaky blinders.”
