When will David Gordon Green stop? With medieval comedy “Your Highness” coming next April, a new season of “Eastbound and Down” on the way, and numerous gestating projects such as “The Sitter” with Jonah Hill and maybe even a remake of “Suspiria,” where does this man find the time to think? THR reports that Green has filled his buffet plate with two developing projects, teaming with newcomer Josh Parkinson.
The first project, “Free Country,” Parkinson’s first original screenplay, is described as a “thriller with comedic elements.” Green is helping develop the project and may even direct it, with his production company footing the bill. For those hankering for another intelligently done action-comedy hybrid like “Pineapple Express,” this one may quench your taste buds. Whether Green directs it or not, it will become part of Green’s Rough House productions stable, and you can be sure that at least one of their team players (Jody Hill, Danny McBride and Ben Best to an extent) will be at least peripherally involved. While it would be nice to see Green go back to his roots and make a quiet, arty drama like “George Washington” or “Snow Angels,” a) at this juncture in his career that’s not going to happen and b) any project he has oversight on tends to be worth seeing and we’d rather a talented director helm a comedy rather than a hack (Hello Brad Silberling. Take care.)
The second project is a rewrite of the Paramount film “Battling Boy,” which is part of Brad Pitt‘s Plan B production company. The film is based on the graphic novel of the same name, which is about “the son of a god who is sent down by his father from the top of a mountain to rid the giant city of Monstropolis of a plague of beasts.” Aren’t beasts supposed to be in a place called Monstropolis? This also is unrelated to Tim Burton’s proposed “Monsterpocalypse,” and thank god, the more monsters (or killing of monsters) the better. Hopefully Green and Parkinson can make something fun out of this, but honestly it kind of sounds like a paycheck development gig. The screenplay was originally written by “Watchmen” script writer Alex Tse.
We’ll see what happens with all of these forthcoming projects, it seems likely that Green will direct “Free Country” but who knows if all of this non-stop work will catch up to him. Look forward to new episodes of “Eastbound and Down” later in 2010, and after that, “Your Highness” in April 2011. “The Sitter” with Jonah Hill shoots this fall.