John McTiernan reinvented the action movie in the ‘80s with “Predator,” and “Die Hard.” The ‘90s fared just as well for him with “The Hunt For Red October,” “Die Hard With A Vengeance,” “The Last Action Hero,” and “The Thomas Crown Affair.”
The aughts weren’t so kind though, for a number of reasons, “Basic” and “Rollerball” tanked, but he was also convicted of illegally spying on his “Rollerball” producer Anthony Pellicano and sent to jail in 2013. He was eventually released in 2014 and served the remainder of his sentence under house arrest. Oh, and he also declared bankruptcy on his assets.
Despite all that, he has a fervent fanbase in France, where his films are still revered.
Belgian filmmaker Fabrica Du Welz spoke to McTiernan for this utterly fascinating 45-minute sit down, they go through every film McTiernan has directed, but when “Rollerball” comes up, the filmmaker bluntly states he doesn’t want to talk about it.
McTiernan hasn’t directed a film in almost 20 years. He implies that the reason why is the shape-shifting change within the industry:
“There is a reason why the atmosphere in the film industry changed around the year 2000. Movie studios were all acquired by money. Around 2000 they got a hold of all the studios — what kind of movies have they made since? They make movies about people who don’t exist, they make animated movies about chipmunks, or extinct mammals like mastodons and sabertooth tigers. Or they make movies about wizards. They don’t make movies about real people anymore because those are dangerous.”
McTiernan was supposed to shoot a new film in Paris last fall, but something happened and that film, titled “Taut Ceci Foxtrot,” has been, again, delayed.
It was supposed to star Uma Thurman and Laurence Fishburne and tell the story of a group of rebels who set out to kill the oligarchs and military thugs that terrorized a war-torn planet in the remote Tau Ceti solar system.
“I have continued to write and I believe I have strength, years left. I am just as angry now as when I was 19,” adds the 72-year-old McTiernan.
It’s a very moving interview, especially the last five minutes where McTiernan starts to show a real vulnerability and you can really sense that he wants to make another movie.
Edward Berger seems to have settled on what comes next. His Lance Armstrong biopic, starring Austin Butler, is now holding casting calls, with production eyed for January.