According to Deadline, New Regency has dropped an untitled film set to star Steve Carell that would have taken place in North Korea. The film had been set to begin production in March, with a screenplay from Steve Conrad (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty) and Gore Verbinski (The Lone Ranger) in the director’s chair. Apparently they will not change the location and Fox does not wish to distribute the film.
This decision comes right on the heals of confirmation that North Korea was behind the cyberattack on Sony, coupled with threats of violence on all theaters that showed The Interview. This threat was enough for major theater chains to drop out of the film’s release, culminating in Sony shelving The Interview until further notice. While the US Department of Homeland Security has not found a credible threat against the theater-going public, it seems no theater or film distributor wants to take the chance.
As a result, it seems that we will miss out on a “paranoid thriller” from Conrad and Verbinski, who will both move on to other projects. Verbinski has two more films lined up with New Regency, A Cure for Wellness and Passengers, while Conrad is working on an action-comedy. While The Interview may yet see the light of day, this untitled film is almost certainly dead.
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