Tag: Paul Verhoeven

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Paul Verhoeven “Wouldn’t Hesitate” To Direct Another Big Studio Sci-Fi Movie If Someone Gave Him A Script Like ‘RoboCop’ Or ‘Total Recall’

Director Paul Verhoeven hasn’t made an American movie since the 2000 film “Hollow Man,” which attempted to explore a modern mature take on the classic “Invisible Man” and it was also his last big entry in the R-rated science fiction genre. But that seems to be changing with his next English-language feature film project “Young Sinner” and while speaking with the outlet Metrograph, Verhoeven has decided to make his big return to American productions alongside teasing an openness to return to making a big studio sci-fi blockbuster. However, there is one catch, it would need to be offered a script as good as the ones he received for “RoboCop” and “Total Recall.” The two big blockbusters and the thriller “Basic Instinct” would sort of cement his status as one of the best genre directors of that era.

“If someone were to give me a script like ‘RoboCop’ or ‘Total Recall,’ I wouldn’t hesitate to do that. I haven’t seen it,” the Dutch filmmaker told Metrograph.

“RoboCop” is easily one of the more well-liked entries in the cyberpunk sub-genre of science fiction and focused on a slain cop ressurected as a cyborg by a greedy corporation that eventually tracks down his criminal killers that are revealed to be intertwined with the company that brought him back to life.

“Total Recall” on the other hand wasn’t an original idea as it was a loose adaptation of the Philip K. Dick story “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” and was pitched as “Indiana Jones” on Mars. It focuses on a construction worker who dreams of visiting the human colony on Mars only to discover he’s already been to Mars as a double agent and was dumped on Earth after having his mind erased leading to a violent adventure off-world. Originally, Canadian director David Cronenberg was attached to direct and he had a direct hand in the addition of the mutant population on Mars, adding his signature weirdness but ultimately exited leaving the director’s chair to be filled by Verhoeven. Oddly enough, a “Total Recall” sequel based on Dick’s “Minority Report” went into development before the studio, Carolco Pictures, went bankrupt and the project landed at the feet of Steven Spielberg. The script’s ties to “Total Recall” was all but severed and reworked as a starring vehicle for Tom Cruise instead of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Paul Verhoeven Reunites With 'RoboCop' Screenwriter For 'Young Sinner'

Speaking of ‘RoboCop,” Verhoeven is reuniting with the film’s co-writer Ed Neumeier on a new American-set political thriller called “Young Sinner” and spoke about how the two ended up finally re-teaming after 1997’s “Starship Troopers.” The pic co-fianced by Disney’s Touchstone Pictures was a satirical futuristic take on WWII propaganda films based on the Robert A. Heinlein novel that found a second life in the home video market after the film was considered a big box office disappointment at release.

“I’m working with Ed Neumeier, who wrote ‘RoboCop.’ You could say it’s a political thriller, if you want, situated in Washington. The last couple of years I’ve been working in France because I couldn’t find something interesting here at that time. But Ed came up with a really interesting proposal. For two years we have been working on the screenplay. It should be done in two months and then we can find out if someone can finance it.”

One could theorize that Neumeier might be the sort of screenwriter that could attempt to write/adapt another tentpole script to coax Verhoeven back to the blockbuster sci-fi genre after working together on three movies. Interestingly enough, he had been involved with plans for “RoboCop Returns” back when Neill Blomkamp had been interested in reviving the franchise with Peter Weller reprising the iconic role of Alex Murphy, aka, RoboCop. Since Neill Blomkamp’s exit from the sequel, there hasn’t been much movement on the part of MGM as the studio had been acquired by Amazon.

There was a time that Sony Pictures was all-in on trying to recapture the magic of his sci-fi work by being involved with remaking “RoboCop,” “Total Recall,” and “Starship Troopers.” All three were PG-13 versions of those beloved mature movies with the first two flopping and luckily the third one never got further than development.

SOURCE: METROGRAPH

Posted on in Film News

Paul Verhoeven Declined To Direct Legendary Flop ‘Cutthroat Island’ To Focus On His Expensive ‘Crusade’ Movie Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger

Paul Verhoeven is busy these days making more slightly more artsy films than his commercial Hollywood work with projects like the WWII espionage pic “Black Book,” the French-language revenge thriller “Elle,” and his latest the erotic nun movie “Benedetta” that will debut this week at Cannes. 

In the 1990s, Verhoeven attempted to recapture the magic from the Oscar-winning sci-fi action satire blockbuster “Total Recall” by reuniting with Arnold Schwarzenegger for a big-budget epic “Crusade,” that would see the action star returning to his “Conan The Barbarian” roots. The project is Hollywood legend as the studio behind “Total Recall,” Carolco was having massive financial troubles at the time and had two pricey projects on deck, they could only afford to make one of them. Those projects being “Crusade” and the other Geena Davis-led pirate adventure blockbuster “Cutthroat Island,” the studio picked the pirate movie and it tanked so hard it bankrupted the studio, ultimately killing Carolco and “Crusade” among other films with it. 

In an interview with Variety, the Dutch filmmaker reveals that Carolco originally offered him “Cutthroat Island,” but declined because his passion was for reuniting with Schwarzenegger and dishes some details as the project would have seen his character become the king of Jerusalem only settle on a farm by the end of the film, taking cues from Voltaire‘s “Candide.”

Verhoeven reveals he almost made “Cutthroat” after it was offered to him but declined, At one point they even asked me if I was interested in “Cutthroat Island,” but I really wanted to work with Arnold again after “Total Recall.” Our idea was to make this movie where Arnold becomes the king of Jerusalem. At the end he abandons all of that to live with his girlfriend and settles in a little farm. It’s basically the end from Voltaire’s ‘Candide,’ when the main character is asked what he’s going to do now and he says he’s going to cultivate his own garden.

When it was time to make “Pirates of The Caribbean: Curse of The Black Pearl,” Disney must have been extremely nervous after “Waterworld” and “Cutthroat Island” being monster bombs, both boat/ocean based adventure movies.

Some of the other never made Schwarzenegger movies include a mostly silent version of “I Am Legend” from director Ridley Scott with mostly practical effects that turned into the Will Smith vehicle and a direct sequel to “Total Recall” based on Philip K. Dick‘s “Minority Report” that in the wake of Carolco’s bankruptcy switched studios with director Steven Spielberg severing all ties to “Total Recall” and hiring Tom Cruise to star. 

Posted on in Film News

Watch First-Look Trailer For Paul Verhoeven’s 17th Century Italian-Set Erotic Lesbian Nun Movie ‘Benedetta’ – Premiering At Cannes This Summer

Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven has had one of the more interesting directorial careers moving between multiple different genres with satirical sci-fi action outings like RoboCop, Starship Troopers and Total Recall alongside thrillers like Basic Instinct, Elle, and Black Book. He’s set to return with his erotic nun movie Benedetta and the French studio Pathe has dropped the first-look trailer as it will debut first at the Cannes Film Festival on July 9, 2021.

The film stars Virginie Efira, Charlotte Rampling, Daphné Patakia, and Lambert Wilson.

Benedetta is based on the 1986 non-fiction book Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy by Judith C. Brown with a script penned by Verhoeven and David Birke. It’s been a longtime coming as they wrapped production back in 2018 and the film has been patiently waiting for a festival reveal after a 2020 premiere at Cannes was cancelled due to the pandemic.

In the late 17th century, with plague ravaging the land, Benedetta Carlini joins the convent in Pescia, Tuscany, as a novice. Capable from an early age of performing miracles, Benedetta’s impact on life in the community is immediate and momentous.

SOURCE: PATHE