ComingSoon.net just got off the phone with director F. Gary Gray, talking to him about his upcoming suspense thriller Law Abiding Citizen, starring Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx, and though we didn’t really have nearly as much time to talk about the movie as we needed, we did get to throw in a question about The Brazilian Job, the long-proposed sequel to his 2003 breakout hit The Italian Job.
Over the last few years, various actors who had appeared in that caper comedy–a remake of a 1969 British comedy starring Michael Caine, Noel Coward and Benny Hill–have been asked about the status of the sequel and whether they might be interested, but the responses were always rather vague and non-committal. The last time we heard about the project was when we spoke to producer Donald De Line, and you can read what he said here. The movie has had a page on IMDb for some time which notes that it’s being scripted by David Twohy. (Unfortunately, we didn’t get the chance to ask him about that when we spoke to him a few months back for A Perfect Getaway.)
Gray feels that the future of the sequel happening is very much in the hands of Paramount at this point, which makes it tough since so many of the executives involved with the success of the first movie are now gone from the company. “I think it’s really just about getting the material in the right place,” he told us. “Sequels are tough and you always want to top the original, and I think that’s where the energy is being put into developing a script that is just as good, if not better, than the first.”
We also asked whether he’d still be interest in directing that sequel if they can get the script happening. “I hope so,” he responded. “If you’re on a movie, it depends on scheduling, that whole thing, but I certainly hope so. I loved directing that movie. It was a lot of fun, and I think people would want to hang out with that crew again and go on another ride, definitely.”
Being that it’s been over six years since the original movie, is there still interest in the likes of Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Jason Statham, Mos Def and Seth Green coming together one more time? All of the above have gone onto much greater success since making the movie so what might be involved with getting them back on board? Only time will tell.
You can read the rest of our interview with Mr. Gray next week before Law Abiding Citizen opens on October 16.
