UPDATE: Just hours into the new era at Paramount, and there’s already a major acquisition, and it’s hottest available package around.
Paramount’s new co-chairs Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein have landed “High Side.” Mangold and Chalamet might now make this one a priority on their schedules. Don’t be surprised if it shoots next year.
EARLIER: Deadline reports that Hollywood is “abuzz” over “High Side,” a hot new package making the rounds that could mark a reunion between Timothée Chalamet and James Mangold, fresh off their Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” which recently scored eight Oscar nominations.
According to Deadline, the project is based on an unpublished short story by Jaime Oliveira and is being pitched to studios, sparking a bidding war. This has 20th Century written all over it.
“High Side” follows Billy, a former MotoGP prodigy whose life was derailed by a career-ending crash and a troubled family past. Now running a garage and caring for his addict father, he's pulled back into danger when his estranged brother Cole—wanted by the FBI—returns with a plan to rob banks using superbikes. As the crew hits targets across desert towns, with a final heist timed to a major motorcycle parade, an FBI agent with a personal grudge closes in.
Whether this ends up being Chalamet’s next project will depend on how quickly a deal can be made. The actor is currently shooting Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune 3,’ and has Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme” coming out in December. He isn’t currently attached to any other projects.
Meanwhile, Mangold has a slew of projects in development. He’s working on a “top secret” project over at Netflix, the DCU’s “Swamp Thing,” a Buster Keaton biopic for 20th Century, a new Star Wars movie at Lucasfilm, and the Shakespeare-inspired “Juliet.”
Mangold has built quite a career as a big studio director in Hollywood; his most notable credits include “A Complete Unknown,” “Ford v Ferrari,” “Logan,” “3:10 to Yuma,” “Walk the Line,” and “Cop Land.” Not too shabby.
Still no distributor for "Bucking Fastard," "Alpha Gang," "The Last Photograph," "Closing Night," and "The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd." The issue seems to be quality more than a lack of willingness to buy.