El Cosmico here, a few of you have written in about this item, that showed up in Variety today...yes, it's true, Christopher McQuarrie, screenwriter of THE USUAL SUSPECTS, the fellow who made the thoroughly enjoyable THE WAY OF THE GUN, a damn fine and under-viewed film of this year, is set to make a somewhat beefily-budgeted film about none other than Alexander the Great, everyone's favorite Greek-educated wacky Macedonian rampaging conquering boy wonder.
I think Chris is a rather talented fellow, and I'm looking forward to seeing him take on something a bit...large. Gotta love that "known world" quote below. Known to whom? Old habits die hard.
-El Cosmico
Tuesday December 12 5:21 AM ET
'Alexander the Great' Set to Conquer Moviegoers
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Alexander the Great will ride again, in an $85 million epic drama to be directed by the filmmaker behind recent recent box office flop ``The Way of the Gun''
The project has long been a passion for Christopher McQuarrie; after he won an original screenplay Oscar in 1996 for ''The Usual Suspects'' he hoped ``Alexander the Great'' would serve as his directorial debut. That honor went instead to the Artisan crime drama ``The Way of the Gun,'' which grossed about $6 million domestically this past fall.
``I wanted to be part of a film that was similar to the films I grew up on that were larger than life with grand heroic characters at the center,'' McQuarrie said.
``What I find most compelling about Alexander the Great is the notion of a man who had conquered nine-tenths of the known world with the help of his childhood friend before the age of 25.''
Penned by Peter Buchman (''Jurassic Park III''), ``Alexander'' is being backed by Warner Bros.-based producer Mark Canton and German media company Senator Entertainment.
``I have been interested in the story of Alexander the Great for quite some time,'' Canton added. ``'Alexander' will be the definitive story of this astonishing leader and his epic conquests.''
Production is slated to begin whenever next summer's anticipated actors' and writers' strikes are settled.
