With “Spider-Man 4” originally scheduled to shoot by February, Tobey Maguire’s 2010 was beginning to take shape. Now that the project’s fallen through, Maguire’s looking a lot like Chris Tucker — an actor almost exclusively associated to one franchise with almost no other credits. This year, he’s got one other project, an indie drama called “The Details” where he plays half of a married couple frustrated by a pack of raccoons. Clearly, Maguire’s going to need something, anything, to stay on the A-List, or even the B+ List.
AZ Central (via /film) recently went over Tobey’s potential future starring efforts, but they’ve missed a few, so we’re here to pick up the ball and provide a more comprehensive look at what he’s got coming down the pipeline should he decide to be a little more proactive. We’ve listed the projects in order of likelihood.
“The Crusaders” — Should Maguire’s Oscar bid this year with “Brothers” fall through (which is likely), he’ll have this project, where he’ll play a white NAACP lawyer who fights against segregated schools. We’d like to think Maguire will realize the world doesn’t need another story of segregation about blacks through the eyes of a white person, but the truth is this might be the easiest project to set up, since it would reteam him with fellow “Spider-Man 4” exile and “Seabiscuit” collaborator Gary Ross. The script, by Danny Strong (“Recount”) has generated positive word of mouth and conceivably this could be ready to go, though Ross has a tentative involvement with a “Matt Helm” project for a summer start date, provided Bradley Cooper is available.
“Prisoners Of Trebek” — Maguire would play a man who became a student of “Jeopardy” and eventually one of its most successful contestants, using the lessons learned from the show and applying them to his own personal life. Goran Dukic (“Wristcutters: A Love Story”) is currently circling the project as director, and it would be nice to see Maguire stretch his comedic muscles a little.
“The Limit”— Maguire, who’s producing this effort, would be one of two Grand Prix racers in the sixties who were friendly rivals, as read from Michael Cannell’s book. They have a script from Anthony Peckham (“The Book Of Eli,” “Invictus”) though the project has cooled since Maguire Entertainment made the purchase in March.
“Tokyo Suckerpunch”— Throughout Maguire’s career, one project has failed to die away, an adaptation of Isaac Adamson’s comic adventure novel about an American journalist adrift in the Land of the Rising Sun. The film has turned him from a Hunter S. Thompson-like savant of Asian youth culture into a graphic novelist, but the script was otherwise set to go in front of cameras last fall before co-star Anne Hathaway dropped out. Gary Ross and Barry Sonnenfeld have previously been linked to the director’s chair, but if Maguire chooses to restart this project, they’ll probably work with a clean slate.
“Worlds” — This art-heavy bestseller focuses on multiple alien worlds based on practical scientific thought by Oscar-nominated special effects technician Alec Gillis (“Starship Troopers”). There’s not much story to the book, but some believe it has “Avatar”-like breakout potential.
“Good People”— When a couple in debt finds $40,000 in a deceased tenant’s apartment, they rejoice until they realize a suspicious cop, a drug dealer and a burglar looking for revenge. Maguire Entertainment purchased this property in January last year for Maguire to star with a “dark” script by Kelly Masterson (“Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead”), but didn’t we see a version of this already with last summer’s “Next Day Air”?
“The Hobbit”— “Spider-Man 4” leaves a giant gap in Maguire’s schedule, and what fits that better than the 14-month shoot for Guillermo Del Toro’s trip to Middle Earth? Maguire’s denied any potential involvement and it looks dubious that the rapidly-aging actor would be a good fit for the tiny Bilbo Baggins. Everyone’s schedule matches, so we wouldn’t write this off, but it still seems like a longshot.
“The Quiet Type”— A project from the earlier “Spider-Man” era, this concerned a young, mute wannabe composer who comes to New York City to pursue his dream only to fall in love. Richard LaGravenese and Rob Perez wrote the script, though we imagine it’s pretty hard to get a movie made where the lead is mute, and especially if he’s got Tobey’s freakishly-giant moon eyes. Out of all these, this is our pick for the one we want to see the most.
“Rock of Ages”— Maguire Entertainment purchased this property, though it doesn’t seem to be something Maguire is looking to star in. Adapted from the shitty Broadway jukebox musical, it concerns a romance that blooms in the middle of a scuffle between devotees of capitalist mall-bound attitudes and shitty, corporate hair metal. It’s everything you imagine the demise of the musical would sound like. Still, if Maguire smells the money, who says he can’t find a way to star?
“Money For Nothing”— Maguire would star in this true-life memoir of a criminal who conned gullible lottery winners out of future earnings by writing false lump-sum checks. Maguire as a fast-talking con-man seems like a solid role, but no talent is attached as of yet. Warner Independent set this project up, but as they currently no longer exist, this remains in limbo.
“Robotech”— Tobey, if you want it, this is your next big franchise. A mixture of “Avatar” and “Transformers” (as we’d guess it would be pitched), the anime source material was snapped up by Maguire Entertainment and remains one of Hollywood’s most attractive unmade properties. Reportedly there’s a script written by Lawrence Kasdan, which should speed the development of this expansive concept, based on the idea that the world uses alien technology to combat multiple alien invasions. The source material is so massive that they’ve got a trilogy in the bag if a decent talent jumps behind the camera (ideally a Ridley Scott, but probably a Louis Letterier-type).
“Hot Plastic”— This crime novel concerns a father-son-teen drifter trio of cons who become briefly separated before rejoining and combining their newfound skills to varying degrees of success. Peter Craig penned the novel, but the property still sits in development without a writer. It’s unclear who Maguire could play in this, as he’s a bit young to have a con man son, but too old to play the son, who has a relationship with the young teen. Consider this just waiting to start development.
“Afterburn”— Based on a comic book, this property concerns a post-apocalyptic world where the Eastern Hemisphere is in ruins, leaving a strike team to head into hot spots populated by mindless zombies to procure notable artifacts left behind from the end of humanity. So far, so unwatchable! Maguire Entertainment purchased this property in 2008 and teamed with superproducers Ryan Kavanaugh and Neal Moritz, but as of now this sure looks dead.
“Everything Changes”— Another property produced by Maguire, this took shape in 2007 with Peter Hedges (“Pieces of April”) looking to write and direct based on the Johnathan Tropper book. Tobey would play a man who second-guesses his wedding when he falls for the widow of a deceased friend and copes with the re-emergence into his life of his womanizing father. Nothing’s been heard of the film for awhile now, so we’re gonna mark this one up as dead as well.