Paul Greengrass has been jumping from project to project in the last year, with some not working out due to financing, while others were down to differences of opinion between him and the producers. Most recently he’s been trying to set up Memphis, about the last week in the life of Martin Luther King, but it’s now been revealed that’s been put on hold for a year, leaving his time to make something else.
The backers are apparently keen to ensure Memphis is released on the Martin Luther King holiday weekend, but there was concern that with Greengrass known for taking his time about things, it wasn’t feasible to have it ready by January 2012’s MLK day, so Universal pulled and with new financing need, Greengrass and co. are instead waiting, in the hope it will reach cinemas in January 2013 (although it is possible the entire thing has been canned, as there’s apparently been protest from Dr. King’s family, who are backing a separate biopic at Dreamworks, so the delay may just be a nice way of getting people to forget about the movie).
So what’s Greengrass going to do in the meantime? Well, according to Deadline, one of the projects Greengrass is circling is an adaptation of The Great Blue Good-by, on of John D. MacDonald’s novels about Travis McGee, which is being developed as a possible starring vehicle for Leo DiCaprio The character is a beach bum living on a houseboat who takes on “salvage consultant” assignments when he’s low on cash, but gets into misadventures along the way.
Oliver Stone was circling the Travis McGee project before he committed to Savages. Greengrass’ involvment may have scheduling difficulties, as DiCaprio is currently shooting J. Edgar, and then he will move onto The Great Gatsby shortly afterwards, meaning he’s unlikely to be free before Greengrass will want to return to Memphis.
Another possibility is Here There Be Monsters, based on a script by Brian Helgeland. It focuses on British naval officer who’s wrongly stripped of his commission and hired by a rich shipping magnate to investigate the disappearance of his merchant ships in the North Atlantic. Jones and his shipmates slowly realise that it’s the work of a sea serpent, and they use unconventional yet visionary naval strategies to battle the creature and stay alive. At the moment though, Greengrass is only one of the directors being considered.