*UPDATE* Following yesterday’s news, Richtman is back and says that Cillian Murphy has been offered the other lead role in his upcoming prison film. It has not been confirmed that either Murphy or Daniel Craig has inked a deal to star.
The earlier story is below.
For good reason, things are a bit murky for Damien Chazelle right now. The box office failure of Babylon still lingers, and his Evel Knievel biopic with Leonardo DiCaprio seems to be going nowhere fast. But last year around this time, we also learned of another movie Chazelle had in the works, a prison film set up at Paramount. Well, now that film might have a star.
Scooper Daniel Richtman (via World of Reel) says Daniel Craig has been offered the leading role in Chazelle’s untitled prison film with action elements. No confirmation that Craig has accepted, and given he recently backed out of Luca Guadagnino’s shelved Sgt. Rock movie, it’s unwise to assume anything.
Following his final run as James Bond in No Time to Die, Craig has starred in the Knives Out sequel Glass Onion, and Guadagnino’s drama Queer for which he earned strong reviews. He’ll appear next as Benoit Blanc in the third Knives Out movie, Wake Up Dead Man.
Chazelle is a talented filmmaker, and I think Babylon gets too hard a rap. It was a messy movie, no doubt, and way too long, but I appreciate his ambition and vision. I’d happily live in his version of Hollywood any day. Other than La La Land, Chazelle’s movies have rarely been huge money earners (First Man did $100M) so he’s probably best in the midsize level in terms of budget. I just hope he gets back on track to start making movies again.
