Green Zone

[Galactus]

Source: Variety January 19, 2007


United 93 helmer Paul Greengrass is set to write and direct a movie about the aftermath of the Iraq invasion, based on Rajiv Chandrasekaran's book "Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone," reports Variety.

Like United 93, the film will be produced by Lloyd Levin, Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner for Working Title Films, and distributed by Universal Pictures.

Greengrass will start work on the project after he finishes The Bourne Ultimatum for Universal, which is currently in post-production.

Chandrasekaran's book, drawn from his own experiences as Baghdad bureau chief of the Washington Post, deals with the chaotic attempts of the Americans to set up a provisional government in the area around Saddam's palace.

Shooting is scheduled for later this year.

 

[Shifty]

Rajiv Chandrasekaran talks about his book on The Daily Show

 

[Agentsands77]

Interesting. Greengrass is talented as hell, so I'll be interested to see how this turns out.

 

[MaskedManJRK]

Looks to be pretty interesting. Can't wait to see it.

 

[Shifty]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BcQncZLOaI
Another interview

 

[Cinemaman]

I don't like this

Greengrass is too interested in Iraq and US conflicts, so it may also look like every another his movie will be having some stuff about this war

 

[echostation]

too soon... much like United 93... excellent film but still... He needs to get out of the political stuff and hit hard on a variety of different genres...

 

[L.A.]

Its about time they make movie of Desert Storm in Iraq!

 

[SolidSnakeMGS]

Yeah, and damn that Scorsese for making too many dumb gangster pics! Or Stone for making too many political dramas! Or Spielberg for making too many action movies!

Directors should never dabble in the same genre!

/sarcasm

 

[echostation]

and I make the same criticism of them as well... I feel directors should tackle multiple genres... at least I would try to if I were one just for interest's sakes and see if I could confidently do one or not... It's fine if they want to stick to their niches and that's also a fantastic road obviously... i'm just saying from a personal standpoint that Greengrass seems to be really good at multiple genres especially if he was at oine point slotted to do Watchmen.. I'd love to see him tackle something else a whole different animal... much like Danny Boyle is doing.

 

[Cinemaman]

Yeah, and damn that Scorsese for making too many dumb gangster pics! Or Stone for making too many political dramas! Or Spielberg for making too many action movies!

Directors should never dabble in the same genre!

/sarcasm

Don't forget that all Scorsese's gangs movies became classic. What about Stone, the only movie, which I liked was Born on July 4th.

But this doesn't mean I like when directors are stuck to one genre. You can take Fincher as example. He was working will various genres as Sci-Fi (Alien 3), supernatural thriller (Se7en), depressive psychological crime drama (Fight Club), crime psychological thriller (Panic Room) and now thriller based on true events (Zodiac) and romantic fantastic drama (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). Yeah, the genres aren't so different, but still they all have new vissual styles and mix of the best, what camera can show.

 

[Hunter Rider]

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=40818

Ryan, Kinnear Cast in Greengrass Thriller
Source: Variety
January 10, 2008


Director Paul Greengrass has set Amy Ryan and Greg Kinnear to star alongside Matt Damon in the untitled Iraq war thriller that begins shooting today in Spain for Universal Pictures, reports Variety.

The film is inspired by Rajiv Chandrasekaran's nonfiction book "Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone."

Greengrass and Brian Helgeland turned the premise into a fictional thriller set in the "Green Zone," a walled and fortified area where U.S. troops stay during the Iraq occupation. There, critics say, flawed decisions are made because leaders are separated from the realities of life in war-torn Iraq.

Damon plays an officer who teams with a senior CIA officer to search for evidence of weapons of mass destruction. Ryan will play a New York Times foreign correspondent sent to Iraq to investigate the U.S. government's WMD claims. Kinnear plays another CIA officer. Antoni Corone has been cast as a colonel.

Working Title partners Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner are producing with Lloyd Levin

 

[Shifty]

too soon... much like United 93... excellent film but still... He needs to get out of the political stuff and hit hard on a variety of different genres...

Read the book and you'll know that the material shouldn't be pushed away for another 10 years.

 

[TheVileOne]

Not sure how I feel about the subject matter, but I hope Greengrass does a good job with it.

Greengrass is probably the hottest and most sought after director working right now. I bet he has a good amount of clout at the moment. And now he's made Damon into his staple performer. I imagine that Greengrass and Damon is going to be quite a famous filmmaking duo for the ages much like Burton and Depp, Nolan and Bale . . . Campbell and Raimi.

 

[Hunter Rider]

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=42530


Jason Isaacs Joins Paul Greengrass Thriller
Source: Variety
March 3, 2008


Jason Isaacs has joined the cast of the untitled "Green Zone" thriller directed by Paul Greengrass, reports Variety.

The Working Title/Universal Pictures project, written by Brian Helgeland, stars Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear and Amy Ryan, and is currently shooting in Spain.

It's a fictionalized drama set in Iraq after the defeat of Saddam Hussein, inspired by Rajiv Chandrasekaran's book "Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Baghdad's Green Zone" about the blunders of U.S. administrators in attempting to reconstruct the country.

Isaacs will play an American military officer.

Antoni Corone was previously cast as a colonel. Working Title partners Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner are producing with Lloyd Levin.

 

[TheVileOne]

Now after thinking about it, this movie could be one reason why Damon and Greengrass are possibly doing Bourne 4 at some point .

 

[Hunter Rider]

Matt Damon On Green Zone
Exclusive: Talking the Iraq thriller

So far, Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass have been very tight-lipped on The Green Zone, their follow-up to The Bourne Ultimatum. The film is based on Rajiv Chandrasekaran's book about the American reconstruction of Iraq after the war. We quizzed Damon earlier today.

"We didn’t really have an agenda when we set out to make it other than we wanted to make a really good movie and a really honest movie," Damon told us of the tone on the red carpet of the Sony Ericsson Awards this evening. "We have all these real soldiers in the movie and that’s really interesting .You know there’s not really one opinion that the movie puts forward and there’s not one opinion from the soldiers themselves. People have very different views about what went on and what our role in the war is. One thing that Paul does really well in films like United 93 and Bloody Sunday is that he simultaneously puts forward a number of perspectives and you can just sit there and watch an event unfold in a way that feels really real and authentic; hopefully the movie will do that".

We don't expect there to be any easy answers from Green Zone. Greengrass isn't given to making films with pat opinions; he presents different sides of the story and lets the audience try to force the pieces of the puzzle together. We're hoping for something along the lines of Bloody Sunday, but with, we hear, an action sensibility akin to The Bourne Ultimatum. Is this pair capable of making a bad film? We doubt it, even if they tried really, really hard.

 

[Arkady Rossovich]

I hope this is more realistic. There are too many false things showing how "good" Iraq is. It's all propaganda.

 

[Hunter Rider]

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=42885

Brendan Gleeson Enters Green Zone
Source: Variety
March 12, 2008


Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges, Beowulf, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) has been signed on for the final lead role in the untitled "Green Zone" thriller that Paul Greengrass is directing for Universal and Working Title.

Gleeson, who plays an American soldier, joins Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Amy Ryan and Jason Isaacs.

Variety says the Brian Helgeland-scripted drama is a fictionalized drama inspired by the Rajiv Chandrasekaran book "Imperial Life in the Emerald City," and the drama focuses on the dichotomy between the Green Zone, where troops are housed, and the streets of Baghdad after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. Pic posits that bureaucrats are making policy decisions about the country's rebuilding even though they're in a sheltered enclave without a clear view of all that is happening.

The film is currently shooting in Spain.

 

[The FallenAngel]

Gleeson.

 

[Heisenberg]

First pictures of Damon filming...
http://www.thebadandugly.com/2008/04/02/first-look-damon-in-green-zone/

 

[Gotham]

He doesn't look half bad.

 

[Dark Donnie]

First pictures of Damon filming...
http://www.thebadandugly.com/2008/04/02/first-look-damon-in-green-zone/

 

[Hunter Rider]

The pics surprised me, i was expecting him in a suit walking around corridors for 2 hours.

 

[batman44]

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