While he’s taking a rare detour into straight up genre territory with the thriller “Savages,” Oliver Stone is making a return to the familiar world of power and intrigue that has dominated the bulk of his work. From “Wall Street” (x2), “W.,” “Nixon,” “JFK” and “Alexander” to documentaries “Commandante” and “South of the Border,” the director has never found a shortage of material with which to engage in his fascination of men, corruption, politics and power, and once again, he’s found another film to exercise those themes.
Stone’s target this time is Robert Moses, and THR reports he’ll produce and direct an adaptation of Robert Caro‘s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1974 biography “The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York.” Nicholas Meyer (“Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home,” “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country,” “The Human Stain“) will pen the screenplay that will tell the story of Moses, New York City’s controversial master builder and planner, who is largely responsible for shaping the neighborhoods, highways and general geography of America’s largest city. His career was not without controversy, as he often pulled the strings in getting favorable officials elected — e.g. folks who would allow to him to do his work unfettered. While he is credited for helping the city bounce back after the Great Depression by having a hand in two World’s Fairs and convincing the United Nations to station their headquarters in New York as opposed to Philadelphia, his critics contend his preference for highways over pubic transit destroyed neighborhoods and even forced sports teams to leave the city.
Either way, another Manhattan tale with dudes swinging their dicks around for influence and recognition is right up Stone’s alley (perhaps too comfortably?), so we’ll be eager to see this one come together. And this isn’t the first project Stone has gone to cable TV for, as he’s also got the developing “The Untold History of the United States” over at Showtime. It was originally going to preview at the New York Film Festival but was replaced by a screening of “Salvador” instead, but it seems Stone’s unique take on history is coming to the small screen as well.