Nicolas Cage is The Bad Lieutenant

[Hunter Rider]

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=44961

Source: Variety
May 13, 2008


Nicolas Cage will star in an updated version of 1992's The Bad Lieutenant with Werner Herzog directing, Edward R. Pressman producing and Avi Lerner's Nu Image/Millenium Films financing, reports Variety.

The original film, also produced by Pressman, starred Harvey Keitel and was directed by Abel Ferrara from a screenplay by Ferrara and Zoe Lund. That film received an NC-17 rating with the depraved title character heavily involved in drugs, gambling, sex and stealing while a New York police officer.

The new script's written by Billy Finkelstein, a TV writer with credits on "Murder One," "Law & Order" and "NYPD Blue."

Production will start in late summer.

Ive never seen the original but it seems a bit soon to be remaking it, I mean Cage could do with a meaty role after his recent efforts and Herzog did a good job with Rescue Dawn....but still.

 

[skorponok]

Uhm...a remake...hmmm...

 

[Rac]

Wow. A remake of 1992 film. Just wow.

 

[OddBob]

I thought I was beyond being surprised by remakes, but this one has me dumbfounded.

 

[Gotham]

Werner Herzog being attached is my only hope for this film. Though, I do think Nicholas Cage can be fantastic when directed appropriately.

 

[Lord Blackbolt]

Will Cage do full frontal nudity like Keitel did in the original?

 

[Warhammer]

Yep, but it'll be CGI. It wouldn't be the first time he had CGI body modification.

 

[cerealkiller182]

Wow, Im really upset about this. Keitel gave one of the most manic and visceral performances ever. And its certainly not the wide range audience pleaser that you would normally remake. Its pretty graphic.

 

[Octoberist]

why god why

 

[Matis17]

Nicholas Cage is The Bad Actor.

 

[bullets]

I think Nicolas Cage goes back and forth with his performances. I really liked him in some movies and others he chews it to pieces. It definately depends on the director he works with.

 

[SFII]

let's hope it's not like Ghost Rider.

 

[Gotham]

I think Nicolas Cage goes back and forth with his performances. I really liked him in some movies and others he chews it to pieces. It definately depends on the director he works with.

Exactly. I loved Matchstick Men and only liked National Treasure. I think he would have made an excellent wrestler for Darren Aronofsky had he not dropped out.

 

[EdRyder]

God ,the original scared the crap out of me!

Spoiler

When Jesus is just standing there and Keitel starts screaming at him "What do you want from me!?" Freaky! Keitels whole performance is just beyond -beyond.Im never surprised when people say they havent caught it,..They ask "Whats it about?" ..."Oh ,its about a crazy cop who smokes crack"

 

[Gamma Ray]

Why does Cage keep getting work? He's **** in everything he's in.

 

[Warhammer]

He's also an Academy Award Winner. That must mean something!!!

 

[Arcturus]

I always find that Nicolas Cage always has that expression on his face, it's like he dropped his watch in the toilet or something.

 

[Hunter Rider]

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=45673

Exclusive: The Bad Lieutenant is NOT a Remake!
Source: Edward Douglas
June 5, 2008

Werner Herzog might be one of the most prolific film directors working today, having directed 56 films in a career that's spanned over 45 years. He's not resting on his laurels either now that he's past the normal age of retirement, since recently, his name was attached to two very different projects from his norm: A police thriller with the familiar name of The Bad Lieutenant and an adaptation of Daniel Mason's The Piano Tuner. When Herzog came to New York to promote his new Antarctica doc Encounters at the End of the World, ComingSoon.net asked him about his new projects.

One thing the German filmmaker wanted to stress and make clear is that his next movie The Bad Lieutenant starring Nicolas Cage is NOT a remake of the 1992 Abel Ferrara of the same name, a movie made famous for Harvey Keitel's full frontal nude scene. (Incidentally, The Piano Tuner has nothing to do with Keitel's other full frontal movie The Piano either, in case you were wondering.)

"No, it's not a remake," he told us quite adamantly. "You have to delete that from your memory, though we may not be able to delete it from public perception. It's like I keep saying, 'A James Bond film, the newest one, is not a remake of the previous one; it's a completely different story.' It only has a corrupt policeman as the central character and that's about it."

"You won't be able to make it clear, because it will perpetuate itself," he lamented when it was suggested that word might get out that this is a different movie. "Once a notion like this is out, you can never correct it. Of course, it's very fascinating to work with Nicolas Cage, he really wanted me to be the director on this film. It can't get any better."

He brushed off our suggestion that he's mainly famous for being a director who works outdoors or in the wild, which would make his next film more interesting, since it would set in the city. "I haven't made everything out in nature. Some of the films that are better-known, but I realized recently in Torino, Italy, they had a retrospective of my films, and it was 55 or 56, and I thought, 'Dammit, I made a lot.' Only a small but rather significant part is out in wild nature, like in the jungle or Antarctica or in Alaska, but it doesn't mean I have a total fixation of wild landscapes out there."

When suggested that he might be able use the techniques he learned in those famous films to explore the concrete jungle in a similar fashion, he also disagreed. "You can't do it in this project because there's a very clear story that is written and there's a certain urgency in the drives of narrating the story, so you have no real time to explore certain city spaces or cityscapes."

The Bad Lieutenant is a top priority for Herzog right now, since the project came together very fast with a limited time in which he can get the film done. "'The Bad Lieutenant' has to be done during a window of opportunity for Nicolas Cage which is coming very, very soon, so I have to scramble to get pre-production done. In this case, financing was unclear and I thought it probably was not going to happen, and then all of a sudden, two weeks ago, I'm called, 'Come immediately, we have to start immediately, because money is there, Nicolas Cage wants to have me as director.' It was a fine moment, because I had a good negotiating position with the production company. They have been good in doing it from out of nowhere from one day to the next. Of course, we'll have bumps in the road as always happens in movies. Don't expect that I'll be in the city and things will be easy. There will be some problems en route, and for all movies that have ever been made." (It's great to see that Herzog's sardonic wit and cynicism is still alive and well.)

Waiting patiently on deck is Herzog's own script for The Piano Tuner which he plans on tackling after finishing the police thriller.

At one point, there was talk about a narrative drama based on the life of Timothy Treadwell, the bear-loving explorer most famously captured in Herzog's 2005 documentary Grizzly Man, but Herzog was skeptical of that movie ever being made. "I don't think that's ever going to happen," he said when asked about his involvement. "I believe that Leonardo DiCaprio bought the rights and at that time, he thought that Treadwell was a true Prince Valiant who boldly defended the bears, but when DiCaprio saw my film, that was the end of his dream of doing the Prince Valiant version. You can't outdo Timothy Treadwell as an actor."

Look for our full interview with Herr Herzog sometime early next week. Encounters at the End of the World opens at New York's Film Forum on Wednesday, June 11.

 

[cerealkiller182]

If its just some other corrupt cop movie why not find a different title and advert the confusion in the first place

 

[Apollo]

^ because that would be the smart thing to do.

 

[cerealkiller182]

Yeah, but Herzog struck me as the guy who would choose to do the right thing.

 

[Demon Within]

Nicolas Cage is The Bad

Truth.

 

[Hunter Rider]

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=45994

Eva Mendes to Star in The Bad Lieutenant
Source: Variety
June 16, 2008


Eva Mendes is in negotiations to reunite with her Ghost Rider co-star Nicolas Cage in the Werner Herzog-directed reimagining of Bad Lieutenant for Nu Image/Millennium Films, reports Variety.

The 1992 original film starred Harvey Keitel as a corrupt cop investigating a nun's rape. It was produced by Edward R. Pressman and directed by Abel Ferrara from a screenplay by Ferrara and Zoe Lund.

Billy Finkelstein wrote the updated version, and Pressman is producing alongside Stephen Belafonte. Alan and Gabe Polsky also produce.

Filming will begin in late summer.

Nu Image/Millennium's Avi Lerner, Danny Dimbort, Trevor Short and Boaz Davidson are exec producing with Elliot Rosenblatt and Alessandro Camon. Randall Emmett and Cage's Saturn Films also produce.

 

[Hunter Rider]

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=46507

Kilmer, Xzibit and More Join Bad Lieutenant
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
July 3, 2008


Val Kilmer, Fairuza Balk, Jennifer Coolidge, Vondie Curtis Hall, Shawn Hatosy, Denzel Whitaker and Xzibit are joining Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes in Werner Herzog's cop drama Bad Lieutenant, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Shea Wigham, Katie Chonacas (Righteous Kill) and Brad Dourif also are among those who will appear in the update of Abel Ferrara's cult classic.

The original followed the depraved adventures of a corrupt policeman (Harvey Keitel) investigating the rape of a nun. The new film will feature Cage as the titular crooked cop and capture the spirit of the original, with the protagonist's drug intake, accepting sexual favors as bribes and other elements that endeared so many to the 1992 version.

The new film will feature Kilmer as Cage's partner, while Xzibit will play a villain.

The original's producer, Edward R. Pressman, will produce the new version with Stephen Belafonte, Alan Polsky and Gabe Polsky. Billy Finkelstein wrote the screenplay, loosely based on Ferrara and Zoe Lund's script.

Nu Image/Millennium's project will feature the company's Avi Lerner, Danny Dimbort, Trevor Short and Boaz Davidson as executive producers, along with Elliot Rosenblatt and Alessandro Camon. Randall Emmett and Cage's Saturn Films also produce. Filming is set to begin later in the summer.

 

[PLAS]

Bad Idea