Last month, a report indicated that Damien Chazelle’s next film would tackle stunt devil Evil Knievel, and star Leonardo DiCaprio. It looks like this project is legit. Some more details have now emerged (via Production Weekly).
Firstly, the film is called “Evel Knievel on Tour,” and is written by William Monahan (“The Departed”) and Terrence Winter (“The Wolf of Wall Street,” “The Sopranos”). This will also not be a straight up rise and fall biopic. Instead, the story is set in a single year, 1974, and tackles Knievel’s ambitious planning to jump across Idaho’s Snake River on his motorcycle.
Knievel was an American stunt performer, and entertainer, known for his motorcycle jumps (and bad temper). During his stunt career, Knievel suffered more than 433 bone fractures, earning an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as the survivor of "most bones broken in a lifetime.”
Knievel ruined his career when he attacked a man with a baseball bat due an unflattering book written about him. The victim was knocked unconscious and needed major surgery to repair his arm. Knievel served 6 months in jail, but lost all his endorsements and contracts.
Chazelle’s last film, “Babylon,” tanked at the box-office, making $63 million against a production budget of a little under $100 million. “Babylon” ultimately lost Paramount an estimated $87 million. Oddly enough, it was a huge hit in France, with both critics and audiences.
Back in April, Chazelle set up his supposedly next film with Paramount, this one rumored to take place in a prison. It was described as a “mid-budget” drama with action elements. He was supposed to shoot it this fall, but it never happened — did he suddenly get cold feet?
A few months later, Chazelle told Vanity Fair that he was now working on two projects, and didn’t know which one was going to get made first. ‘Evel Knievel’ is still in development, but things are revving up fast enough that I wouldn’t be surprised if it is indeed his next film.
Boyle's answer was met with a shout of "Never do that shit again" from the crowd, and the TIFF moderator swiftly brought the Q&A to a close, thanking everyone for coming.