Michelle Monaghan is one of those actresses with a lot of potential, who spends most of her time collecting paychecks (“The Heartbreak Kid,” “Made of Honor,” “Eagle Eye“). She got strong notices a few years back for her performance in “Trucker,” but it’s been far too long since the days of “Gone Baby Gone,” “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” and “North Country.” Though that is about to change.
Monaghan is now negotiating to star in “Fast Flash to Bang Time,” playing one of two troubled FBI agents searching for a killer and a kidnapped infant. The FBI agents’ “trouble” involves one being a crack addict, and the other (played by Monaghan) is addicted to sex.
So, is this the female “Shame”? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The project is being auteured by W. Peter Iliff, writer of “Point Break” and director of an episode of “Tales from the Crypt.” The film is being described as “an indie psychological thriller set in Las Vegas,” with Las Vegas itself being described as, “the last stop for FBI agents who have screwed up past assignments.”
In a behind-the-scenes twist tailor-made for TMZ, an original backer of ‘Fast Flash’ was Sonja Morgan, one of the “Real Housewives of New York.” When she tried to back out of the arrangement, a judge informed Morgan of her legal obligation to finance the film, ordering her to hand over $7 million. When all of this went down last May, ‘Bang Time’ was being described as a “failed movie venture” in which Morgan was potentially liable for “fraudulent conduct” because the film hadn’t gotten made.
Well, it’s potentially getting made now though John Travolta — once mooted as a potential star — is not attached, and the company producing and co-financing the picture, Kerry, Kimmel and Pollack, is currently searching for a male actor to play Monaghan’s crack-addicted FBI partner. Might we suggest Chris Evans? [Variety]