Fox Searchlight have put a halt to their adaptation of the popular 70’s British crime series The Sweeney after discussions over it’s potential worldwide appeal went a bit sour.
The movie was set to lense in a few short weeks with Ray Winstone (as the older veteran cop made famous by the late John Thaw) and Michael Fassbender (as the young partner) as detectives in the Flying Squad police unit.
But problems with…
A) The original show being an unknown quantity outside of the U.K.
B) Winstone and Fassbender as unproven box office draws.
has halted the film.
The plan is now to delay the production until next year when they might be able to find a bigger name duo, or at least one bigger name to star alongside the other in the film. I would suggest it’s not necessarily Fassbender who will be dropped from the film because it’s ok he is an unknown, it’s the bigger star that needs to carry the film and although Winstone is a popular actor in the crime genre in the U.K. - he is not a proven leading actor.
Which is a shame because I think he would own this movie and I would rather see him in this than someone like Jason Statham, who often is too unlikeable on screen. May I suggest Sean Bean?
London born writer/director Nick Love (The Business, The Football Factory, Outlaw) is still attached to direct the script he co-wrote with the original creator of the show Ian Kennedy Martin.
source - variety
20/03 
20/03
2 Comments
You know, they could have had something good here. The industry is tripping over itself again and getting so wrapped up in box-office concerns that good ideas and opportunities for excellent projects are getting pushed thwarted.
Even though we didn’t need a new movie take on The Sweeney, this story is sad in that it shows how the business end completely pushes any notions of imagination, creativity and art right into the background.
Ray Winstone would be perfect for the job. He’s burly and surly. He’s got the right accent. He even looks the part. (Remember him in “Sexy Beast”?? Jason Statham….. Just cannot see him as a Regan replacement. This character has to be a hard drinking, smoking, brooding, brute, with a heart of gold. Ray Winstone can act and Statham can’t. The drawcard of The Sweeney was the character’s believability. Statham would never be able to portray that kind of complex persona. - The very thought of him being able to do so is preposterous.