Paramount leaks Bigelow/Boal project details in list of films in development?

James Cameron might have preferred The Hurt Locker had it been in 3D but the Oscars voters seemed to like it well enough (it was nominated for nine and took six) and now Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal can probably take their pick of actors for their next project, Triple Frontier. According to an apparently leaked doc from Paramount, that's just what they're doing.

According to The Wrap, a leaked email from Paramount has information on the studio’s slate going forward. Paramount hastily claimed that the email was not official and yet did not deny its contents altogether. According to the spokesperson, the email contained “some correct information and some inaccurate information”. Way to issue a denial, Paramount! It’s likely that the partial denial was a diplomatic move to distance the studio from some of the less positive comments the email contained, such as the fact that John Fusco’s draft script for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie is “not great” and that they’re seeking another writer.

The document confirms that Bigelow and Boal’s next project will be titled Triple Frontier. It’s to be set in the border zone between Argentina, Paraguary and Brazil whose geography makes the area difficult to patrol, making it a hotspot for organised crime including drug trafficking and the financing of terrorist groups. According to the leaked document, Mark Boal’s draft script “came in great” and the film will go into production in December or January. The mail also says that the film will feature an ensemble cast (shades of Soderbergh’s Traffic here?) and even names the actors Bigelow and Boal have reportedly met.

Those actors are Sean Penn, Will Smith, Javier Bardem and Christian Bale. Now, we don’t know if these meetings were speculative or serious or whether these actors are vying for the same role or different roles (or really if they occurred at all). It does, however, seem more than plausible. The Hurt Locker made everyone involved look good; Jeremy Renner got an Oscar nomination for best actor for his work, so it stands to reason other actors might want a bit of the same. It would be exciting to see Bale or Bardem (who this writer has been a big fan of, since seeing his incredibly charismatic performance in Biutiful) working with Bigelow but unless there are roles for an angry senator or a righteous cop, I’m much less keen on Smith and Penn.

Other revelations included the fact that Star Trek II is currently being written and will shoot next year; that Paramount is negotiating for Young Adult – the comedy scripted by Diablo Cody, to be directed by Jason Reitman and to star Charlize Theron as a stalker; that they’re awaiting a script for The Dictator (which they term the ‘Sascha goat movie’ [sic] –a reference to Sacha Baron-Cohen’s untitled, upcoming movie about a goat herder); and that they love the new draft of zombie flick World War Z from Matt Carnahan – Brad Pitt will star and Marc Forster will direct. Most importantly for movie buffs everywhere, the first draft of the Baywatch script is due soon and Paramount loves the script for GI Joe II, which Sommers may return to direct.

You can read The Wrap’s scoop here. It appears genuine and if it’s not, someone has done a lot of homework to make it appear so.

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