Cool News
An amazing startling revealing update about Paul Verhoeven!!! Great News!
Hey folks, Harry here... item number one here is the most thrilling news I've seen regarding Paul Verhoeven in quite some time. The news that he is indeed set to make a new Dutch language thriller is superb. That he's going back to his roots to make another film with his Dutch collaborator on SOLDIER OF ORANGE and THE 4TH MAN... it's just beyond thrilling for me. Now, if only Jan de Bont would be his DP. Heh. Lots of great news here about a great many Verhoeven projects... enjoy...
Hi there!
Director Paul Verhoeven has been interviewed for a
Dutch newspaper and that in the interview he talks
extensively about his upcoming projects. I have not
(as yet) seen any word about most of these productions
in the English language media, so I thought I should
let you know just in case you were interested.
Here you go:
1/
He is set to direct a Dutch language (!) thriller,
that he wrote together with Gerard Soeteman. They have
collaborated on numerous Dutch films, such as "the 4th
man" with Jeroen Krabbe and "Soldier of Orange" with
Rutger Hauer. It will be his first Dutch effort since
leaving for the States in 1983. Not much is known of
the plot, other than that it is a thriller set in
1945, after the liberation of the Netherlands and that
it is tentatively titled "Zwartboek", which would be
"Blackbook" in English. The script is nearly done and
filming should take place in The Hague and in the
Biesbosch wetlands east of Rotterdam, though no start
date is mentioned. Verhoevn did mention that it will
be filmed with an all Dutch cast and crew, but that he
expected the film to be of an international level of
quality (i.e. he hopes to sell the film outside the
Netherlands).
2/
Paul has written an English language script with his
longtime cinematographer Jan de Bont (who also
directed Speed, Twister, Lara Croft II) which is
called "Paperboy" and should start filming before the
end of this year. Nothing else is known, apart from
the fact that it is a "family drama" whatever that may
be and that casting is currently underway. No word on
whether Paul or Jan (or both?) would direct.
3/
The Crusades project that he had long been attached to
(with Arnold Schwarzenegger attached to star) is
deader than dead. "Ridley Scott is doing a Crusades
project and Arnie is governing... and Arnie now has
the rights to this project and he will not do any
films anymore"
4/
Paul is still developing an English language script,
also with Gerard Soeteman, based on the historical
novel by Mike Dash called "Batavia's Graveyard", but
this project still needs at least a year before
filming can start. He is currently in preproduction
with the British FilmFour company and is trying to
secure the use of a lifesize replica of the actual
ship in question (for info on the ship:
CLICK HERE).
The story
is a "Lord of the Flies but with grown-ups" as
Verhoeven puts it, a true story of a Dutch East-Inda
tradeship that wrecked off the coast of (the then
unknown) Australian continent... most of the people on
the ship survive and make it to a nearby island, only
to be killed by a religious madman who has succeeded
in recruiting others to kill for him and his cause.
I suppose Verhoeven would also like to wait and see
how the $135 million Russel Crowe/Peter Weir epic
(Master and Commander etc etc) does at the box office.
No stars are currently attached but Verhoeven
mentioned he has a pretty good idea of whom he would
like to work with, and that these included British and
American actors, so maybe he is thinking of people
that he has worked with before?!
5/
A biopic of Montyn, a Dutch painter that collaborated
with the Nazi-regime during WWII and entered the
German navy, is in the scripting phase but will take
at least a two years before production gets going. The
script is being written by Edwin de Vries, who also
wrote the script for 'The Discovery of Heaven', a
Dutch production in the English language, starring
Stephen Fry. No word on whether this would be a Dutch
or English language film.
6/
Verhoeven has optioned a novel by the Russian writer
Boris Akunin. The novel is a detective mystery set in
19th century Moscow. Soeteman is also working on this
script, which will be in English. There are ten novels
in all, though Verhoeven would like to direct the
first one and if its successful, only produce the
others. As with the Montyn project, this will not be
filming any time before 2005. The novel has (as yet)
not been translated into English.
That's all on Verhoeven. Thought I might as well throw
in a trailer-link to 'Twin Sisters', the Dutch film
submitted for the Foreign language film 2004 Oscar...
American distribution rights have been bought by
Miramax who is planning on having it in theaters in
February of 2004. The trailer can be found here:
CLICK HERE
The story is about two twin sisters, born in Cologne
(germany) in the 1930s, who are seperated when they
are six years old. One moves to the Netherlands and
falls in love with a Dutch Jew, and the other one
remains in Germany and falls in love with an Austrian
SS-officer. Obviously, drama ensues as WWII creates a
rift between the sisters and one lover is forced to
kill the other (on a symbolical level at least). The
two sisters, now old grannies, meet in one last time
in the health resort of Spa (Belgium) and try to
overcome their differences.
This film is real Oscar fare if you ask me: full blown
drama and all that. Will have to see if Miramax will
support this at all (hope so, have seen it and it is
actually pretty good and heart-wrenching)
Hope you can use this...
Boyske
-
+ Expand All
-
but why not starship troopers2? I'd love to see that one.
-
"Zis is bad! Very very bad!!!"
-
Oct 09, 2003 6:02:32 AM CDT
I think Verhoeven should make the Seigfreid & Roy biopic with Hu
by chaffro
"Hey brother, I've got five kittens to feed..."
-
The tiger is still sweating over the results of his H.I.V. test.
Sorry V.L.S. it had to be stolen. -
Paul V is very under rated as a director.
He has an impressive body of work and I wish he could get a chance at something very big like the Iron Man movie or perhaps the next Rock film.
-
It's a pitty Hollow Man sucked so badly. In my book Showgirls, Robocop, Basic Instinct, Starship Troopers and Total Recall are all terrific.
-
Hollywood or Holland, I'm sure Verhoeven will make room for his usual mixed shower scene!
-
He better be casting Screech and Screech better be showing his junk...along with about 5000 boobs...or i will start the revolt.....And thus, I have spoken! - - - George, The 7th Chicken!!!!
-
Oct 09, 2003 7:47:52 AM CDT
Starship Troopers was a great movie, some people were just too s
by minderbinder
-
PV is the greatest director working in Hollywood today. His movies are exciting, adult and definitely not for everyone. I don't care what most of you clowns say, "Hollow Man" was the best big-budget slasher movie ever. When will "Flesh + Blood" be given a DVD release? It is the only movie in history that features a dog carcass as a major plot point as well as having young Jennifer Jason Leigh naked nearly all the time. Spectacular.
-
I think that movie "Paperboy" is going to be based on the old video game. It's about time someone milked that cinematic gold. (Or I guess "cinematic milk" would make more sense.)
-
... then you have too much time.
I love nearly all of his movies, though parts of Hollow Man really sucked. But he really is one of the rare directors with balls who isn't afraid to show all the violence that some stories demand. To be honest, I half expected that legendary explicit rape scene really to be in Hollow Man. I would have done this scene, because it would have broken another tabu, and because it would have revealed a lot more about Kevin Bacon's character. Nevertheless I think that Paul's biggest hits are behind him, like RoboCop or Total Recall. That doesn't mean that he will never do it again, but I don't think he's going to make it better. Hopefully I'm wrong.
I still want to see that Doom thing done by the man.
But the reason why he didn't do Doom is a good reason: Starship Troopers. Hell, Casper van Dien already is legend being Johnny Rico, ain't he?
Oh yes, and fu -
I think Woo should go back to his roots and make another good action movie.
-
Well someone needs to get that guy to do a phantom edit of "Showgirls". It was just have the nude scenes, and everything else would be cut. Now get to it! sk
-
You have to see the magic dancing CGI bras to truly understand how funny the movie really is.
-
Maybe Chris Elliot's "Get A Life" series is finally going to the big screen?
-
HaHa
-
My idea of 'great' Verhoeven news is that he's retired to a monastery or something. Everything he's done post-_Robocop_ has sucked. Hard. Egregious use of gore effects does not make him 'kewl'.
_Starship Troopers_ was a satire, eh? Not an intentional one. The satire story was invented after the fact, when they saw a way to excuse that miserable abortion of a film.
"Er, yea. It was a satire. That's the ticket. Didn't you get it?"
-
It was supposed to be his first american film produced by, yes, Jan de Bont. Shame it wasn't the video game adaptation, though.
-
When you said you had good news about Paul Verhoeven, I naturally assumed he had died.
-
The original novel was satire!! How can you say that the movie was not?! Starship Troopers makes some major comments on society, such as the requirements to become a citizen, propoganda in the media (little kids squashing bugs,etc), and the media on the battle field (brutally killed reporter and camera man). Don't say that Starship Troopers is not satire.
-
Yeah I'd agree that ST is satire, but what about the whole women in ground combat thing, and the way that the men and women shower together apparently oblivious to the fact that there are naked members of the opposite sex standing next to them? Is that satire of absurd left-wing fantasies about gender, about how women would make good foot soldiers, and how with the proper 'education' men can be made to think of women as just one of the guys; or is it endorsement of those ideas? With Hollywood I always expect endorsement.
Also, the thing about Starship Troopers is that our military today would do better against those giant bugs than our fictional future military does in the movie. Where is the artillery? Where is the armor? Where is the air support, other than one scene. Yeah, I know it makes for good visual spectacle to see machine guns versus a horde of bugs, and I admit I really do enjoy that fort battle scene. -
Oct 09, 2003 12:20:09 PM CDT
What would make anyone possibly think that ST wasn't intended as
by minderbinder
Seriously. You think they ACCIDENTALLY made a spot-on, hilarious satire? (and a great action movie as well) Aside from the end result, how would you even know the filmmaker's intentions anyway?
-
The satire was so heavy-handed at times, with the newscasts (as seen in Robocop and TR), and the whole "citizen" thing. It kinda pissed me off because PV tried so damn hard. But, when all is said and done, when most people saw it, all they saw were guns, explosions, nasty bugs, and brief nudity, not satire.
-
...it was heavy handed, obvious satire, which lessened its impact significantly. Good satire is subtle and subversive. STARSHIP TROOPERS is pandering and in-your-face. The very first propaganda ad makes it painfully clear that they are satirizing fascism. The next two hours of movie proceed to pound that point into the ground to no effect. Just because ST is satire does not make it good. In fact, it fails to deliver good satire and therefore it is bad. ROBOCOP is Verhoeven's masterpiece, with BASIC INSTINCT a close second. Sharon Stone is still one of the hottest pieces of ass in the biz.
-
This is very good news indeed. I've been hoping that dr. Verhoeven would do Dutch language movies again for quite some time. "The Fourth Man" is one of my all-time favorite movies ... as is "Starship Troopers". I just bouth the 5-disk collection which includes all his Dutch films (except "Spetters" - a curious omission). The first one, "Business is Business" is terribly outdated but the rest is absolutely great. Of course, every Dutchman (at least of my generation) has been raised on "Soldier of Orange" and "Turkish Delight", but "Keetje Tippel" is also quite good. _______ Paul has excellent insight into how to use special effects, and I do hope that the fact that he;s going back to the Netherlands won't mean that we'll have to miss out on that.
-
See, ST leaves a strong impression. It makes you think of how near we've already come to this society you saw. How much of the agression's out there nowadays. When I got out of the theatre after watching ST I was shocked by the violence and stunned by the fact, how close this came to what I saw in the news before. (Yes, besides bugs, starships, nudes - wait, maybe nudes were in!)
-
Oct 09, 2003 3:58:16 PM CDT
So if the satire in ST is "too obvious", why are there so many k
by minderbinder
Damn, for something that's supposedly "too obvious", an awful lot of people missed it. I thought it was a riot, in this particular case, the more goofy and over the top, the better.
-
Total Recall has the best plot of any PV film that I have seen. Shit, it has the best plot of any Arnie flick. However, the years have not been so kind and the film is definitely dated.
Troopers, for me, gets better with each viewing because I notice new little subtleties every time I see it.
Hollow Man, however, was a huge disappointment. My goal is to see this early Dutch work some of you are talking about. -
Why did some people not get it was a satire? Because some people are morons.
-
Oct 09, 2003 4:11:08 PM CDT
I thought the satire in Starship Troopers was handled well...
by jimmy jazz
I never liked the novel anyway. It's good to see PV poke holes in Heinlein's fetish for fascism. If you want to see "ponderous and heavy-handed" satire, watch Ollie Stone's Natural Born Killers.
-
Imagine a very violent RAMBO IV directed by Verhoeven and written by Stallone: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/zachary/petition.html
-
Um, BeowulfBolt, "Starship Troopers" (the book by Robert Heinlein) was written as a political satire in 1959. Nobody had to turn the movie into a satire, it was based on a satire from the start. You did know that before you made your post didn't you?
-
Really funny
-
All the Rambo movies are extremly VIOLENT, but imagine Verhoven's VIOLENCE in a script from Sylvester Stallone? Can't you see that this film would shock people with the imagery Sly and Paul would produce? Sly could kill terrorist(s), or drug smugglers or whatever in a RAMBO Film by PAUL VERHOEVEN! One of the most talked about films of 2005 it would make for!!!
-
It's just a shame that the people responsible for Robocop didn't show any respect for the original, and allowed Number 2 (which, let's face it, was utter shit - no arguments) and the series to happen and water down the impact of Number 1. Total Recall 2 won't happen now because people have fucked around too long with it and the lead actor has gone on to...actually, what's Arnie up to these days? Don't hear much of him now.
-
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/zachary/petition.html
-
and smiling while writing. I imagine Sly doing a script, sending it by FedEx to Paul. He's reading it, going to th phone: Hi Sly, just got this Rambo IV script. It rocks! Let's do this together. 2005: Harry here ... got somthing special for you: Rambo IV ... It would be so much fun!
-
Oct 09, 2003 5:06:43 PM CDT
Seriously, people, can anyone answer me this question: why DOESN
by shanghai nicky
At this point in his career, what would he have to lose? No ROCKY VI? Well, that I can understand - after all, who'd take a 60-year-old boxer seriously? But Sly's surely not too old to fire guns? Eastwood was pushing away at the action game even later in life - look at IN THE LINE OF FIRE, for instance. How hard could it be to get a Rambo script knocked up and do a "back to basics" actioner set Stateside for, say, $60 - 70 million? Heck, they could probably bring RAMBO IV in for less. So why doesn't he do it? Don't tell me it's because he doesn't want to do action any more - look at GET CARTER. He's prepared to make dreck like EYE SEE YOU and DRIVEN, so why not RAMBO IV? Why?
-
RAMBO IV: THE AYATOLLA OF IRAQ-N-ROLLA. Hogan is a kidnapped WMD inspector in need of assistance: You're gonna need a lot a body bags, BROTHER!!!
-
Some interesting info, but you're missing the one that is at the top of Verhoeven's list. He is currently out to cast on SOLACE, which was written by Ted Griffin and Sean Bailey. For a while, New Line toyed with the idea of taking this script, incorporating Morgan Freeman's character Detective William Somerset, and making this the sequel to SEVEN. Plot is reminiscent of SCANNERS -- "A former doctor with psychic abilities is drawn into a serial killer case, only to find that the killer is a psychic as well, leading to a showdown between the two men who can detect each other's every move." Guy Pearce is (or was) attached to star in the film.
-
C'mon Sly what gives? make that puppy...we have your back. The knife and AK47 are waiting for you.
-
The Boris Akunin novel actually is published in English: it's called "The Winter Queen" and can be found at any bookstore (including on-line ones). I thought it was a rather simplistic novel, with a so-so plot and so-so characters. I can't imagine how it motivated 10 novels in this series; those Russians must be starved for entertainment.
-
Oct 09, 2003 8:07:45 PM CDT
Congrats WickerJoe, you're not an idiot, you just have bad taste
by minderbinder
-
For anyone that has read of the mutiny by Cornelious and his men,then this film with Paul Verhoven's penchant for over-doing the violence will be one gory film.
The mutiny involving Cornelious and his men had rape,mass-murder of civilians,the humilation of a priest and the execution of pirate Cornelious when caught by having both his hands cut off and then getting hung all the while cursing his captors.
Here's hoping Verhoven doesn't go to far as the story is violent enough without another Robcop or Starship Troopers fiasco. -
Oct 10, 2003 3:46:43 AM CDT
Satire is what closes on Saturday Night - old Vaudeville-era say
by nazzim o'bazzim
Why? A: If it's too subtle no one gets it, B:if it's too obvious it's unfunny and heavy-handed and C: if it is done right, it is disturbing. All the possibilities are box office poison! Now Starship Troopers was category B, although some people on this talkback seem to think it was category A. But at least you could wince and go "yeah, yeah, we get it", then enjoy the bug battles etc... But then a weird thing happens in Starship Troopers. You start to notice, "Wait a minute. Is this still satire? They seem to be getting off on this." Same thing with Robocop, which Harlan Ellison nicely called "the nastiest piece of wetwork I've seen in sometime". Total misquote, but I remember he used the word "wetwork" - old KGB term for torture, etc... Can you tell I'm old with all these hoary quotes? And the Heinlein novel (back to Starship Troopers for a sec...) was very interesting, but some parts were hard to swallow. Someone tried to call THAT satire in this Talkback. Uh-uh. Stuff like the endorsement of corporal punishment - Heinlein meant it. Nazzim out.
-
How it just degenerates into a total shit-fight, faster than you can say 'Showgirls'. Then again that applies to pretty much every other talkback, so what am I saying? Good to see so many on board the Verhoeven express, or The Little Engine that Fetishised Sex and Violence, Shoved it in the Face of the Masses, Said 'Fuck You' and Went Back to Holland. Verhoeven makes such sweet, sweet music for the world's true misanthropists. And I adore 'Starship Troopers'. Eat it, ya mooks!
-
So a lot of people are drumming on this 'satire' argument. Lessee... it was satire because it killed a lot of prettyboys (and girls). The same can be said about *any* modern horror flick. It was a satire because of the over-the-top commercials. An exagerrated depiction of propaganda alone does not make it satire in my books. Where was the "trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vice or folly"? _Dr. Strangelove_ was a satire. _MASH_ was a satire. _Casino Royale_ was a satire. _Starship Troopers_ may have aspired to satire, but claiming that the bad acting, dialog, lack of logic, etc, alone makes it a satire would make any bad film - like _Battlefield Earth_, say - a satire. As for the claim that the original novel was a satire, puh-lease. Have you *read* the book?!? Seriously - try a googlesearch, SkurdJ, and see how many people call the *novel* satire.
-
irony, sarcasm, or caustic wit used to attack or expose folly, vice, or stupidity. And that little dude is right. Starship Troopers, in my view, satirizes the science fiction film genre itself (you have to admit there is a neverending list of stupid science fiction films that have been made over the decades). As a political satire - that's a stretch - but as a satire on self-important movies that are ultimatly very silly. It is an intentional unintentional comedy. It is funny because it takes itself so seriously, but at the same time winks at those in the audience who are in on the joke. It's all schlock for schlock's sake, cliched dialog, obligatory love triangle, tough as nails heroine - hard to tell the difference between this movie and Showgirls. Hey, anybody seen my bowl?
-
Hello everyone! My name is Eelco and I am from the Holland and I am a big fan of the Paul Verhoeven because I like the voilence and the sex. Espessialy the sex! (but also very much the violence)
I hope the Paul Verhoeven continus to make the movies that are strong in both this respects (sex AND Violence). Appart from this respects I also like the tap-dancing (and movies that are about this) -
Oct 10, 2003 4:36:00 PM CDT
here's the scary part-Schwarzenegger WILL continue to do films w
by beamish13
anyway, this new Verhoeven project sounds great. I hope Rutger is in it, though. They're like Kurosawa and Mifune...
-
Oct 10, 2003 4:37:48 PM CDT
for the love of god, enough with the stupid AUSTIN POWERS jokes!
by beamish13
Meyers obviously has no concept as to how the Netherlands really is.
-
Oct 11, 2003 3:37:05 AM CDT
According to Total Film last month, he's also looking at bringin
by aston lad
Haven't read the postings so far today, so sorry if someones already mentioned this. I just thought I'd bring it up in case no-one has.
-
Why isn't anyone reading Shakespeare anymore?
-
Oct 14, 2003 6:53:57 AM CDT
I thought FilmFour stopped making movies, something's not right
by otto parts
...However, a movie of the excellent arcade game "Paperboy" is, er, long overdue. I hope they include the building site at the end of each level, and maybe we'll get the backstory on that kid who rides a go-cart
-
Verhoeven made a good movie, even though it seemed an awful lot like something Goebbels would have authorized.
Robert A. Heinlein wrote an excellent novel, which delved way down into the conscience and soul of the term, citizen, and that other, long-abused descriptor, patriot, and came up with something many readers (including the folks who award the Hugo, which is science-fiction's Oscar)found to one of his best works - and that's saying a LOT.
However, the two share some characters' names and a title, and that's about all.
Paul Verhoeven should stick to thrillers, or create his own titles and stories; don't swipe other people's ideas to sell your own politics.
Oh, one other thing that Verhoeven DID get right; regardless of who is winning, war sucks. It sucks to fight one (like I and a LOT of my friends did, and we lost 58,000 of us), it sucks to lose one, it sucks to win one, and it sucks to be involved with one in any way, shape or fashion. It hurts worse when you go do what you were told to do, then get abandoned by the brass, spit on in the airports when you get home, and fucked over for a decent job for years afterward by the snowbirds that ran North rather than be drafted.
But I can say that I am proud I gave you bastards the right to do that, because I DID go, I DID fight, and I damn near did get my ass waxed - all so you could go to college, learn your Liberal Arts BS, and get married, settle down to your 9-5 with your sigoth, and have your 2.5 children, who are now driving all of us nuts with their whining about how they can't have a BMW before they're 25.
Maybe I shouldn't have fought QUITE so hard.
Anyway, enough of this rant; go watch a movie. -
A while ago there was a rampant rumour that Verhoeven was contemplating a sequel to Robocop. I wish he would do. That was a classic dark tale of redemption, and it got fucked by inept sequels, tacky TV shows and some passable if hokey TV movies. I'll say it again. ROLL ON A DECENT ROBOCOP SEQUEL that has intelligence and substance Mr V!!!
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- Whitney Houston 1963 - 2012 -- 439 total posts 159 posts
- WTF HOLLYWOOD: SOLARBABIES -- 144 total posts 142 posts
- Herc’s Seen Tonight’s Return Of THE WALKING DEAD!! Discuss Also DOWNTON ABBEY, FEAR FACTOR, PAN AM, ONCE, SIMPSONS, DYNAMITE, LUCK, SHAMELESS, BAIT CAR, THE GRAMMYS And More!! Sunday Is Sweeps Day 11!! -- 155 total posts 140 posts
- Avid Comic Reader Hercules Does Battle With Tedium During Kevin Smith’s COMIC BOOK MEN! -- 55 total posts 45 posts
- There's a STAR TREK video game that is going to lead into JJ's STAR TREK 2 apparently... -- 196 total posts 45 posts
- I am The Behind the Scenes Pics of the Day! No, I’m the Behind the Scenes Pic of the Day! -- 35 total posts 35 posts
- If the Behind the Scenes Pics of the Day drops her pen, pick it up, but don’t look at her legs or else it will be on your record. -- 60 total posts 34 posts
- New JUDGE DREDD post production footage pops up -- 127 total posts 32 posts
- To Commemorate The 3D Release Of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, George Lucas Wants You To Know...Greedo Shoots First!! -- 513 total posts 29 posts
- The Sensorties Revisit The Friday Docback (And Still Smell)!! DOCTOR WHO Story #7 Again, The Coming Of Season/Series 7, And More!! -- 118 total posts 27 posts