2001 was the last time Warren Beatty was in a movie. The decade-long gap is partly due to the fact that he says he always waits to find a film he ‘needs’ to make, but it’s also likely the hideous problems with his last flick, Town & Country, put him off. It’s said the slightly controlling Beatty constantly fought with director Peter Chelsom on the set of the, there were endless reshoots (which were blamed on Beatty not being happy with anything) and other problems that caused the budget of the comedy to balloon to $90 million. It was eventually released three years after it started shooting and grossed only $10 million worldwide, becoming one of the biggest box office bombs ever, and Beatty got a lot of the blame.
However now he’s coming back, with a comedy for Paramount, which he’s set to write, direct, produce and star in. Deadline doesn’t have any details on the film, but they do quote Paramount chairman Brad Grey as saying, Warrens script is quintessential Beatty, elegantly written and wonderfully entertaining. It is our privilege to have one of the great artists in the history of the film industry come home to Paramount. I’ll be willing to bet he won’t be saying that if the movie comes up against the sort of issues Town & Country faced.
It would be great if he can come back with another great movie. He helped change the face on Hollywood in the 60s and 70s with movies like Bonnie & Clyde, Shampoo and McCabe & Mrs. Miller, so it would be good if he can come back and show he’s still got what it takes, both in front of and behind the camera. Recently Beatty has said he’s working on another Dick Tracy movie, having recently won a court battle that decided he did indeed still own the screen rights.