Some of us are relatively big fans of filmmaker Billy Ray (not Cyrus). And one thing’s for sure — as a director he’s got a knack for dramatizing real life events in ways that don’t seem hokey or TV movie-ish. His previous films as a writer-director were the strong drama “Shattered Glass” (the story of disgraced New Republic fraud Stephen Glass) and the woefully underappreciated spy movie “Breach” (about the plot to ensnare FBI double agent Robert Hanssen). He seems to be continuing this trend, and has just signed on to direct Columbia’s Somali pirate drama, based on a forthcoming memoir by Richard Phillips, the captain who was held captive by the pirates, none of whom were Johnny Depp.
Heavyweights Michael De Luca (who used to run New Line Cinema in its heyday), Dana Brunetti and Scott Rudin will be producing (the three gents producing Fincher’s Facebook movie).
If there’s anyone who can bring this to the screen with a compelling mix of fact and fiction, then it’s Billy Ray. (Seriously, put “Breach” on your Netflix list now.) He also has a talent for getting superb performances out of awful young actors, like Hayden Christensen (aka Mannequin Skywalker) for “Shattered Glass” and Ryan Phillippe for “Breach.” Are we thinking maybe Zac Efron as one of the SEALS?
In addition, Billy Ray’s lucrative moonlighting gig as a writer of above-average genre movies (like this spring’s “State of Play”), continues to prosper — he’s got “Motorcade” (about an assault on the President’s motorcade) coming up for Dream Works, as well as an adaptation of the popular kill ’em all videogame “Gears of War” for awful director Len Wiseman and Warner Bros. — Drew Taylor
Drat. I was hoping he'd take on Barton Gellman's "Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency." Not that there were any rumors about the book even being adapted, it's just one of my fantasy adaptations. (Werner Herzog, please do "Moby-Dick"!) If anyone can crack Cheney's mastery of the Beltway super-bureaucracy and make it thrilling, it'd be Billy Ray.
"He also has a talent for getting superb performances out of awful young actors"
SO TRUE. Very excited for this (would be excited for any new Billy Ray project though probably).
Christensen was quite good in the not-so-good Life as a House (I can't say that Phillippe has held another decent performance, though); Motorcade and Gears are just rewrite gigs – a list that includes Flightplan (shudder).
Not to mention the Variety article doesn't say he is going to direct the film, only that he is writing it. Even if he were to direct the film, I'm not interested; what makes Ray's films so interesting is knack for intellectual, interpersonal action, not explosive action.
Breach was ok, I really liked shattered glass though.