Universal has just won a bidding war (beating out DreamWorks and Sony) for the spec script, by first time screenplay writer and current US magazine editor David Guggenheim called “Safe House.” The story is about “a young U.S. intelligence agent in charge of a safe house in a tumultuous part of South America. Soon after a prisoner is brought in, the house is attacked, and the agent and the prisoner must go on the run across the treacherous Latin landscape.” The LA Times compares it to “Collateral” and “The Bourne Identity.”
So why so much heat over this script? Apparently, the material has the right mix of commercial appeal and actual substance and will make a great starring vehicle for any number of young A-listers which equates to big, box office dollars. Also, apparently suits were also excited by the fact that in this day when every board game, cereal and matchbox is being turned into a $300 million dollar film, this was the unique instance of *gasp* an original idea! That’s right Hollywood, sometimes people want to see a movie about something that wasn’t in their toy chest growing up.
If Guggenheim’s name sounds familiar, while he may be a first timer, his siblings are not. His brother Marc wrote “The Green Lantern” which his other brother Eric penned “Miracle.” David only started writing for the first time this fall and ended up with a six-figure deal barely a year later. Not too shabby.
Scott Stuber will be producing this one for Universal, and let’s just hope production goes much more smoothly than his latest project, “The Wolfman.”