Since the release this time last year of “Inglourious Basterds,” Quentin Tarantino has been uncharacteristically quiet; it’s not uncommon for him to go years between projects, but normally he spends the intervening time talking incessantly about ideas that we’ll never see (have a look at some of the Abandoned Tarantino Babies here). There’s been discussion of a spaghetti western focusing on slavery, as well as an adaptation of a trilogy of Len Deighton spy novels, and a 1930s gangster movie, and possibly a documentary on patron/friend Harvey Weinstein.
But our good pals at Pajiba have thrown a curveball into the mix, as they’re reporting that the motor-mouthed auteur is interested in teaming up with 20th Century Fox to write and direct the new outing for pulp hero “The Shadow” that they picked up earlier in the year. The property, which last reached the screen in 1994 with Alec Baldwin in the lead, was being developed by Sam Raimi, a long time fan of the character, who first set it up at Columbia almost four years ago, and rumors earlier in the year suggested, after Fox picked it up in turnaround, that “Twilight: Eclipse” director David Slade would direct — rumors that the helmer vociferously denied over the weekend.
Pajiba say that Tarantino is in discussions with Fox, and may even already be on board about directing the project and rewriting the script, by Siavash Farahani. As surprising as this seems, in some ways it’s the kind of pulpy project that we can imagine the director getting excited about, and Pajiba, as they point out, have a solid track record with news from their same source.
At the same time, it does seem remarkably out of character — after all, Tarantino’s never taken on a property that wasn’t originated by him — other than “Jackie Brown” — let alone a semi-forgotten, fairly lame pulp hero, with the power to “cloud men’s minds,” no less, which we imagine makes all the other superheroes make fun of him when his back’s turned. As Pajiba themselves say, “maybe he’s just added this to the huge pile of future possibilities and has no intention of ever directing,” and that seems like the most likely option; Fox have tried their luck, the director’s interest has been piqued, but that they’re still a way off from any kind of deal, and indeed, that deal may never materialize. But having said that, stranger things have happened…