This just popped up on my radar screen and I am interested. Gina Carano is pretty popular in the MMA arena, and she has the potential to really kick ass. She is not an actress, so for Steven to take a gamble with this gal is a bold move. I am not sure how that will translate on the screen. She does get points for actually being tougher than some of her co-actors, and that will actually make things a little more believable on the big screen with fight scenes and action stuff. But then there is that little thing called dialogue and acting, which either you can do, or you cannot. I hope for her sake, she can pull it off.
Now on to the PMC portion. I have not seen the movie, but from the sounds of it, McGregor will probably mimic a Erik Prince type, or with his accent, maybe a Tim Spicer type. Who knows, but more than likely, he will play the bad guy, thus putting his company in a bad light. Nothing new there. But at least the star of the movie, Gina, will be a security contractor that works for a PMC.
By the way, I have a ton of Hollywood folks reading the blog, and a few that have actually contacted me. For you that are just readers, welcome, and if you need any assistance on your project, let me know. Also, Cade Courtley would be a good choice for any roles in this movie involving contractors, seeing how he has a TV show on Spike and is a former SEAL and security contractor. –Matt
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McGregor, Douglas, Fassbender in Soderbergh’s ‘Knockout’
January 7, 2010
Steven Soderbergh promised to surround mixed martial artist Gina Carano with strong actors for her feature debut when he first spoke about his revenge spy movie “Knockout,” and he is now delivering the goods.
Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor and Michael Douglas are in negotiations to join the cast of the production, which is being financed by Relativity. Dennis Quaid is also in negotiations in join the cast.
Written by Lem Dobbs, the story sees a female spy (Carano) working for a Blackwater-style security contractor who is betrayed by one of her teammates.
McGregor would play the owner of the company, a one-time confidant of Carano who switches allegiances.
Fassbender will play a British agent who teams up with Carano but proves untrustworthy while Douglas will play an American executive of McGregor’s company who works with her to take down the company.
The movie is scheduled to go before cameras in February in several locations around the world and will be selling at the European Film Market in Berlin. Lionsgate is distributing the movie domestically.
Fassbender, repped by WME, is coming off Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” where he played Lt. Archie Hicox. McGregor, repped by WME and United Agents, next appears in Roman Polanski’s “The Ghost Writer” while WME-repped Douglas, who worked with Soderbergh on the Oscar-winning “Traffic,” wrapped “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps” last month.
Link to blog here.
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Exclusive: Ewan McGregor, Dennis Quaid & Michael Douglas (& More) Join Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Knockout’
1/07/2010
When the action spy picture “Knockout” was first announced a few months ago, director Steven Soderbergh promised that the lead star, non-actress/ mixed martial arts champion Gina Carano would be surrounded by a name-recognizable cast of supporting talent and he wasn’t kidding.Sources close to the project have confirmed to us that the principal cast members supporting Carano include Michael Fassbender (“Inglourious Basterds,” “Hunger”), Ewan McGregor, Dennis Quaid and Michael Douglas.
However, it looks like the original concept, — a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who is given a second chance to use her skills for constructive purposes — having gone through the gestation/inception stage was eventually rethought and cast aside (both filmmaker and writer felt that it had “been done”). (more…)