There’s a bit of trouble brewing with Tony Scott and Denzel Washington’s upcoming project, Unstoppable, Fox has announced that their currently scrutinising the budget for the movie, which recently added Chris Pine to its cast. The studio is wrestling with the problem of a mounting a large-scale action pic plus the star salaries of Scott, Washington and Pine in the current economic climate. While Hollywood is having a great year at the box office, the studios normally raise outside funding to offset the risk of many of their larger pictures, and this money is getting harder and harder to come by.
It was partly for this reason that Sony mothballed Moneyball last week, despite major talent being attached in the form of Steven Soderbergh and Brad Pit, as the risks they’re taking are comparatively larger now.
Although Unstoppable hasn’t been greenlit yet, insiders are confident that the the film with get off the ground. However Scott, whose latest film, The Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3, opened to middling box offce, may have to look into ways of saving some cash. It’s also true the studio may be using the situation to try and play hardball against increasingly lucrative star and director contracts.
The movie itself is about a veteran train engineer and the inexperienced rookie brough in to replace him having to try and stop a runaway train that is loaded with toxic chemicals and headed for a major city. While production had been due to start in August, it’s now thought unlikely that the film will go before the camera until the Autumn, if at all.