As reported over a year ago at Cannes and with a poster to prove it, there is a movie on its way about the manhunt for Saddam Hussein starring glittery vampire extraordinaire Robert Pattinson. Don’t worry, this isn’t some teen romantic drama infused with Middle Eastern political intrigue, it’s set to be a pretty gritty thriller with the semi-autobiographical novel “Mission: Blacklist #1″ as source material and a script written by “Band of Brothers” writer Erik Jendresen, “Dead Poets Society” actor Dylan Kussman, and relative unknown Trace Sheehan. The upcoming feature, “Mission: Blacklist” (no #1) follows military interrogator (and the novel’s co-author) Eric Maddox on the hunt for Hussein, ultimately leading him to the 6 to 8 foot spider hole in Ad-Dawr filled with the Iraqi dictator, two AK-47s, a pistol and $750,000 worth in $100 bills. Sounds pretty exciting, no?
With Pattinson as Maddox and a finished script, all seemed good to go until director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire left the project last month. Fortunately (or unfortunately, jury’s still out with the film in pre-production), they’ve found a replacement in Jesper Ganslandt, whose last feature “Blondie” we weren’t particularly fond of at last year’s Venice Film Festival. “Mission: Blacklist #1” will mark the Swedish director’s English-language debut and his first thriller. This sounds like there could be a glimmer of Oscar bait (going down the “Zero Dark Thirty” route) or maybe it’s just another chance for Pattinson to boost up his acting cred or it could get stuck in the melee of pre-production mess. As it’s still in the early stages, there’s plenty of time to speculate and feel free to in the comment section below. [Deadline]
Jessica Chastain should have a cameo.. Then it would cross over with Zero Dark Thirty, leading up to the Avengers-esque hunt for non other than Satan. Maybe tie it in with Inglorious Basterds and their hunt for nazis and Hitler . Aldo Rain would then be put in cryo-sleep to join the team
Glittery vampire?You sound like a tabloid reporter than professional journalist.
Why does Robert Pattinson continue to get acting jobs ? This is one of the miracles of the universe. This guy is always giving sleepwalking performances.
"Sounds pretty interesting, no?" Yeah, dark brooding moody thriller about the hunt for a tinpot tyrant whom the US dressed up to look like Hitler. Ms. Drumm maybe you should watch "No End In Sight" or "Standard Operating Procedure" or maybe "Control Room" before you get all hopped up for the manhunt of some middle eastern dictator that posed no threat to the U.S. Empire. I think I'm going to make a movie about a cheetah hunting down a sloth…Sounds pretty interesting, no?
If there are two things that do not match, it must be: Pattinson and Oscar bait.
DIANA DRUMM What can you tell us about this director. Really interested in his work, esp as he's taking over for the very acclaimed Sauvaire who likes to work on the ground but clearly that proved to be too risky and costly for insurance. I know this will go down as an obsure indie, which isn't a bad thing but the topic/story is very inspiring and I'm interested to see Pattinson flex his creative muscle with this film.
This movie sounds interesting.
It wouldn't have been Jean-Stephane Sauvaire feature film debut, as he already directed "Carlitos Medellin" and "Johnny Mad Dog".
Band of Brothers scribe? I am in.
Sounds interesting, hope they can get it off the ground.