Gore Verbinski Producing
Director Cary Fukunaga is anything but predictable. The eclectic helmer broke out in 2009 with his harrowing, Sundance-winning, immigration drama “Sin Nombre” and then he surprised everybody by completely changing gears; opting to get behind the camera of this year’s period-piece drama, “Jane Eyre,” teaming Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska for a haunting version of the tale charged with an undercurrent of sexual tension. However, even before “Jane Eyre” came together, Fukunaga was revealing his all-embracing colors, talking up his plans for a musical, an African civil war drama and a time-travel film; so it’s really anyone’s guess where he could go next.
While he was one of the very early names considered to replace Darren Aronofsky in the director’s seat of “The Wolverine” and this spring he was linked to the 1860s civil war heist film “No Blood, No Guts, No Glory,” another project may put him into orbit.
A reader recently tipped us to a tweet from May by screenwriter Jeff Vintar (“I, Robot,” the still unproduced script of “Y: The Last Man“) which said, “More good news as Cary Fukunaga (Sin Nombre/Jane Eyre) is in talks to direct my script SPACELESS for producer Gore Verbinski and Universal-.” We did some digging and the project seems to be have been moving along quietly under the radar, and sources close to the project tell us that Fukunaga is indeed in talks for the film. It’s still early days and apparently no deal has been made in the two months since that tweet, but Fukunaga is definitely still eyeing the film.
If he takes it on, “Spaceless” will definitely serve as another big shift from Fukunaga. The high concept flick centers on a top assassin hunting a high-profile target in space who must figure out how much of his reality is an illusion and what really matters in life before he can complete the job. It certainly sounds ambitious, and with a major studio and tentpole filmmaker like Verbinksi behind the project, it could potentially be Fukunaga’s jump into mainstream filmmaking.
Fukunaga is notably choosy, which could be problem if he feels this picture makes him compromise at all, but the filmmaker already has a two-picture deal with Universal and Focus Features (the latter of which produced ‘Eyre’), so we assume that existing relationship could help all parties see eye to eye. Timewise, this one could be a far off, regardless of where deals may land.
Still, for now, slot this one down as one of many possible future contenders for Fukunaga. We’ll wait to see what unfolds, but whatever the diverse filmmaker chooses, it will undoubtedly be unlike anything he’s made before.