Following "Lincoln," Steven Spielberg eyed reteaming with Daniel Day-Lewis on "Thank You For Your Service," an adaptation of the book by David Finkel. It didn’t come together with Spielberg going on helm his upcoming Cold War drama with Tom Hanks, and following that with "The B.F.G.," but it’s still percolating. The Daily Mail reveals Jason Hall ("American Sniper") is writing the script from the book that details the true life struggles of soldiers returning from service from Iraq and Afghanistan, and chronicles their struggle to adapt back into regular life as they battle PTSD and other disorders. Filming will apparently begin later this year.
Here’s one to file under: wtf. Deadline reports that Gore Verbinski (a bunch of "Pirates Of The Caribbean" movies) has pitched Sony on a movie he will direct that’s basically like "It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" but with driverless cars helmed by competing software companies. Steve Conrad ("The Weather Man," "The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty") will pen the script.
If you ever wanted to see a big screen take on the literary classic "Ivanhoe," well it’s happening. "Filth" team Jon S. Baird and Irvine Welsh are reinventing the saga that will find "Ivanhoe and his fellow returning knights suffering to different degrees from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder following their ultimately failed exploits against Saladin and his successful recapturing of Jerusalem," according to Deadline.
Gus Van Sant is jumping over to HBO to helm the pilot of "New World," reports Deadline. This is a provocative period drama by "Orange Is the New Black" creator Jenji Kohan, about "one of the most compelling chapters in American history where intolerance and repression set neighbor against neighbor and led a town to mass hysteria." This is apparently inspired by the Salem witch trails and definitely sounds promising.
Jason Hall is writing this and the other Charlie Hunnam film. Dang. Nice!