ROTTEN TOMATOES: Frank Miller and Clive Owen to Do Some Old-School Film Noir

Frank Miller and Clive Owen to Do Some Old-School Film Noir

by Scott Weinberg | June 21, 2007

Now here's a project that sounds pretty damn cool: Frank Miller directing Clive Owen in an adaptation of a Raymond Chandler story -- and it'll probably be the first in a series!

Lots of Chandler's stories have been made into movies, but like Variety says, the title "Trouble is My Business" has never been adapted for the silver screen. That's the project that Miller and Owen will collaborate on for Universal. Production company Strike Entertainment "just recently decided on which title would kick off a potential series of films."

Why this particular book? Here's why: "[It] was chosen partly because it provides the actor with a similar chance to frame the narrative with a compelling voiceover, using Chandler's hardboiled prose as hard-drinking private eye Philip Marlowe cracks cases, busts heads and romances femme fatales in 1940s Los Angeles."

Sounds good to me! (Films made from Chandler's novels include "The Long Goodbye," "The Big Sleep," and "Lady in the Lake." He also penned a few screenplays, like Hitchcock's classic "Strangers on a Train." AND "Double Indemnity"!

Source: Variety

Related Items

Celeb:	Frank Miller
	Clive Owen
	Alfred Hitchcock
	Raymond Chandler
Movie:	The Big Sleep
	Double Indemnity
	Strangers on a Train
	Lady in the Lake
	The Long Goodbye

(1-15 of 15 posts) | Reply

stevegilpin writes:
on Jun 21 2007 08:51 AM

This sounds really cool!

(Reply to this)

Crenshaw writes:
on Jun 21 2007 09:37 AM

I'm so there.

(Reply to this)

elivislives503 writes:
on Jun 21 2007 10:21 AM

Clive Owen is amazing. I definitely have a mancrush on Mr. Owen. He's an amazingly varied actor. Also any excuse to give him a voice over is A-OK.

(Reply to this)

iavisible23 writes:
on Jun 21 2007 10:29 AM

This is going to be freakin' awesome. Can't wait.

(Reply to this)

IMAmoose24 writes:
on Jun 21 2007 10:59 AM

I am interested.

(Reply to this)

dagreenman18 writes:
on Jun 21 2007 11:06 AM

As long as it comes out after every other freaking movie Miller is working on, im all for it.

(Reply to this)

unbreakable_samurai writes:
on Jun 21 2007 11:42 AM

Sounds like it has great potential, but yeah Miller is busy with a lot of things right now, so who know's when this will happen.

(Reply to this)

bigbrother writes:
on Jun 21 2007 11:43 AM

I don't know what it is about Clive Owen, but I just don't like him as an actor. He's kinda like Nicholas Cage for me in that I often like movies he's in, but I don't like them because he's in them. I think it was his weak portrayal in King Arthur that soured me on him. He did rock the house in Sin City, so maybe their's hope for him yet.

(Reply to this)

BReeG writes:
on Jun 21 2007 11:47 AM

In reply to this comment (#870417)
Children of Men?

(Reply to this)

rgallitan writes:
on Jun 21 2007 12:34 PM

In reply to this comment (#870417)
Now, now, don't blame Owen for King Arthur. That was a bad idea all around, which I'm sure he got into only because he was still getting his foot in the door as a celebrity. He did great work in Sin City, and he was pretty good in Derailed too, even if the film didn't quite knock it out of the park. Unfortunately I haven't seen Children of Men yet.

(Reply to this)

bigbrother writes:
on Jun 21 2007 02:09 PM

In reply to this comment (#870418)
See again I liked the movie, but I didn't necessarily like him in it and I'm not entirely sure why which is a little annoying to me. To be honest the more that movie settles in, the less I like it as well. As for King Arthur I really liked certain elements of that movie and thought the premise was interesting. I just didn't buy his King Arthur at all as a guy the knights would follow. He came across as way too preachy and some of those speeches were just cringe worthy. I'm not sure if it was the lines themselves or just his delivery of them. I was just waiting for Ionn Gryffudd to whack him over the head and say OK, now we're gonna do this the smart way :)

(Reply to this)

Meow Skywalker writes:
on Jun 21 2007 02:29 PM

Well, Clive's awesome in everything but King Arthur. And how can anyone expect anything good to come out of that movie? Bwuh,

But I do have a bit of an issue. Dwight McCarthy was basically just a modern day Raymond Chandler character. It's a little odd to have Clive Owen playing an actual Chandler character.

(Reply to this)

frogleg writes:
on Jun 22 2007 06:27 AM

I actually liked him in King Arthur, which is a movie I fully expected to hate when my roommate rented it. And I think I mostly liked the movie because of him. I've thought he was great ever since.

(Reply to this)

Silver Ghost writes:
on Jun 22 2007 05:20 PM

Chandler's Trouble is my Business contains four short stories featuring Marlowe, potentially creating a number of films, unless its set up like the Sin City adaptation. I don't believe each story has enough plot to merit a full length film, Miller might be better off adapting The Little Sister, Lady in the Lake, or even the Big Sleep.
It will be intriguing to see Miller's take on film noir,as the Sin City books have shown the perspective and layout of the story prove he has a firm grasp on the elements of the genre.
Also Double Indemnity is a James Cain novel that Chandler wrote the film treatment.

(Reply to this)

BogartBluff writes:
on Apr 07 2008 09:40 AM

We're all forgetting a crucial component of Clive Owen's career: Closer. The film, in my opinion, and his subsequent performance, is what brought about his transition from a shoddy action star and occassional good performer to an outstanding actor of considerably high caliber.

(Reply to this)