Remember when Joe Carnahan was going places? Prepping for his adaptation of James Ellroy’s “White Jazz” with George Clooney, Jason Bateman, Peter Berg and a then unknown actor named Chris Pine, the director would seriously have been on cloud nine. Not only that, he already had an adaptation of Mark Bowden’s “Killing Pablo,” the story of infamous Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar, in the works which had Christian Bale and Javier Bardem attached to star, though Bardem was soon replaced by Edgar Ramirez (equally as good, but just not quite as big a star… yet).
However, a series of unfortunate events saw Clooney exit ‘Jazz’ and an invitation to eventual stardom from J.J. Abrams for Pine meant Carnahan’s production quickly fell apart. Cut to three years later, the director is doing press for a straight-to-DVD sequel to his 2006 film “Smokin’ Aces” of which he only executive-produced and on the eve of his awful looking modern adaptation of 80’s cult T.V show, “The A-Team” hitting theaters. You gotta feel sorry for the guy.
But in doing the ‘A-Team’ perhaps Carnahan is attempting to get into the good books of studios, potentially working his way towards reviving one of his former projects? And if that’s the case, it’s not the worst thinking a filmmaker can have these days.
“I think there’s a lot to be pessimistic about in the business right now because movies like that aren’t getting green lit,” Carnahan told Cinematical. “I think if we can do [‘Jazz’] for a number, and that number is gonna be…about $12, then we can make that movie. I think it’s a tremendous script, and I think there’s always a place for that kind of movie. Certainly there’s still got to be a place for the ‘L.A. Confidential’ sequel (‘Jazz’ is a spiritual sequel to ‘Confidential’), I can’t imagine that we’ve forgotten that completely.”
Though Carnahan goes on to reveal that he has another project in the works which will likely precede any return to ‘Jazz’ or ‘Pablo.’
“There’s a film that I wrote that I want to do called ‘The Grey’ which is about a group of pipeline workers in Alaska flying back into civilization after being remote for a number of months. The 737 they’re on goes down, and they begin to be hunted by a pack of rogue wolves. It’s very much a man vs. nature adventure, existentialist kind of drama that I want to do. We’re very, very close to it now.”
It’s an interesting concept even if we’re not sure how Carnahan would pull it off. But in reminding ourselves that he, once upon a time, made gritty police-drama “Narc,” it seems a return to original material may revive Carnahan’s career, or at least our interest in him. And as he explains, “If not [The Grey], ‘Killing Pablo’s always going to be up there for me, and ‘White Jazz’ – I’m still bound and determined to make that movie.”
One positive to Carnahan’s cause is that Chris Pine, who he consistently casted as an unknown, is now a big star. If he can get Pine on board any of his projects, chances are the studio will likely warm to his idea. That and, as much as we’d hate for it to happen, if ‘A-Team’ does gangbusters at the box office. But at least the director can admit when he’s wrong. Carnahan now describes his planned remake of “Bunny Lake Is Missing” with Reese Witherspoon as “one of those things that, in the end, I’m glad didn’t move forward because in hindsight I think it would have probably been a mistake.”