Ever since he went to war against Amazon/MGM over their decision to send his “Road House” remake straight to streaming—penning a scathing open letter, boycotting the SXSW world premiere, only to then show up incognito in a baseball cap—Doug Liman has been hopping aboard some peculiar projects.
First, he wrapped shooting “Bitcoin,” starring Casey Affleck, Gal Gadot, and Pete Davidson, a film that reportedly had 100% of its backgrounds AI-generated. Now, according to a Production Weekly listing, Liman has signed on to direct “Snake Island,” which tackles a mysterious incident in the Russia–Ukraine conflict inspired by allegations surrounding the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines beneath the Baltic Sea.
Liman’s film follows a covert team of Ukrainian divers on a high-stakes underwater mission as geopolitical tensions escalate in the months leading up to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While the true identities of those responsible remain disputed and officially unresolved, the incident has become one of the defining mysteries of the war, fueling international investigations and global speculation.
The biggest recent development is that German prosecutors have formally charged a former Ukrainian army officer over the September 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines. According to intelligence reports, more than one person was involved in the sabotage, and based on the synopsis of Liman’s film, he will be tackling the “team” behind it.
Liman, whose résumé includes tense, kinetic action films and thrillers such as “The Bourne Identity,” “Edge of Tomorrow,” “Go,” and “American Made,” might be a good fit here, as he is known for blending action with grounded realism.
Cinematographer Henry Braham, who lensed Liman’s last three films (“Road House,” “The Instigators,” and “Bitcoin”), is attached as director of photography on “Snake Island,” which is currently in active development for a 2026 production, with filming planned in Croatia.
Will Liman once again use AI-generated backgrounds to cheapen production costs on “Snake Island”? That’s a question worth asking. “Bitcoin” still has no distributor, and one wonders which studio would be willing to take the risk and come aboard that project.
Skydance execs, who arrived on Tuesday at their new offices (formerly Warner Bros), opened the books and "were shocked to learn the extent of the loss" on "Digger.”