The Playlist

Christoph Waltz Going To Stephen Gaghan's 'Candy Store' With Jason Clarke, Robert De Niro & Omar Sy

By Oliver Lyttelton
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May 14, 2013 6:21 PM
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1 Comment

News

But there's always room for one more, and in this case, it's a project that Waltz has been linked to for the best part of a year; a press release, via Deadline and others report that the Austrian actor has signed on to "Syriana" director Stephen Gaghan's "Candy Store." Waltz was first mentioned for the project back in August '12, when Brad Pitt, Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx, Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Bradley Cooper were all said to be on the project's hitlist.

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Casting: Robert De Niro Visits Stephen Gaghan’s ‘Candy Store’; Alicia Vikander Joins Alex Garland's Robot Thriller & More

By Edward Davis
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May 6, 2013 4:23 PM
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1 Comment

Robert De Niro, Alicia Vikander, Kristen Connolly

News

Writer/director Stephen Gaghan has given us the scripts to Steven Soderbergh’s “Traffic” "Rules of Engagement," and "The Alamo," but turned full-fledged filmmaker with 2005's excellent political drama, "Syriana." He hasn’t directed a film since, but not for want of trying. Gaghan’s been attached to several projects over the years, but for whatever reason, none of them have come to fruition. He may have struck gold with the cast of his his latest, “Candy Store.” The picture already stars “Zero Dark Thirty” star Jason Clarke and Omar Sy (“The Intouchables”), but his latest casting coup is even more impressive; Robert De Niro. The acting legend is joining the cast for a story about an undercover agent (Clarke) who begins a new life as beat cop in Brooklyn, but finds that his past life comes back to haunt him. De Niro plays a former cop who teams up with him to stop the threat that could endanger the city of New York. [Variety]

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'Intouchables' Star Omar Sy Joins Stephen Gaghan's 'Candy Store' With Jason Clarke

By Kevin Jagernauth
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April 4, 2013 5:24 PM
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1 Comment

News

It looks like Omar Sy is ready to come to America. The French actor is already known to those keeping a pulse on international cinema, emerging as part of the comic duo Omar et Fred, he worked his way into the movies and broke through in a huge way with 2011's smash hit "The Intouchables," which managed to earn him a Best Actor at the Cesars, and roles in Michel Gondry's "Mood Indigo" and "X-Men: Days Of Future Past." And he's continuing to make an impression stateside, booking another role, though one quite different than his other more crowd-pleasing efforts.

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Stephen Gaghan Bringing Vietnam War Saga 'They Marched Into Sunlight' To FX For Limited Series

By Cain Rodriguez
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April 2, 2013 9:45 AM
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3 Comments

Television

After directing his sophomore feature, the 2005 critically-acclaimed globe-trotting thriller “Syriana,” “Traffic” writer Stephen Gaghan has had a rough go of getting a new project started. And while it seems that he’s finally gearing up to shoot his follow-up, the Oscar-winning screenwriter is also planning a stop on the small screen.

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Brad Pitt & Denzel Washington Might Walk Into Stephen Gaghan's 'Candy Store'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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August 23, 2012 5:57 PM
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2 Comments

News

It has been seven years since writer Stephen Gaghan got behind the camera and delivered "Syriana," and while he has kicked around a variety of projects since, lined up various producing and writing gigs (including doing a polish on M. Night Shymalan's upcoming "After Earth"), there hasn't been much word on a directorial outing. But now comes news of a project bubbling forth, with two heavyweight names eyeing the lead roles.

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'50/50' Helmer Jonathan Levine In Talks To Direct McG-Produced, Stephen Gaghan-Penned Spy Flick 'Dead Spy Running'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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March 13, 2012 9:01 AM
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1 Comment

News

Given that the Bourne, Bond and 'Mission: Impossible' franchises are about as reliable a way of landing a hit as you could ask for, finding a new spy series to turn into a blockbuster is sort of the Holy Grail these days. But clearly, it's trickier to make it work than studio executives would hope for: from "The Saint" and "xXx" to "Shooter," through "Salt" and "Abduction," DVD bargain bins are littered with espionage actioners that never quite got enough traction to sustain a long-running series.

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'Traffic' Oscar-Winner Stephen Gaghan Polishes M. Night Shyamalan's Will Smith Vehicle 'One Thousand A.E.'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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November 11, 2011 9:41 AM
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4 Comments

News

Of the many, many problems of the recent output of M. Night Shyamalan, perhaps first among them is that he's simply not as good a writer as he is a director. He handles the early parts of "Signs" with a disciplined tautness worthy of Spielberg, but throws it away on a teeth-grittingly nonsensical 'God has a plan' ending. He writes himself into "Lady in the Water" as a soon-to-be-martyred author whose work will eventually lead to world peace. He printed out "The Happening" and sent it to his agent, rather than putting it in a box, setting fire to the box, taking the ashes and putting them in a lead-sealed concrete vault a mile underground, as he should have done.

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Stephen Gaghan Lines Up 'The Snakehead' & Untitled Drug Trafficking Movie To Direct

By Kevin Jagernauth
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October 19, 2011 8:04 AM
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2 Comments

It has been a while since we've heard anything from "Traffic" writer and "Syriana" writer/director Stephen Gaghan. Ever since his sophomore film, Gaghan was attached to a few projects that never quite got moving. He was set to adapt Malcolm Gladwell's nonfiction bestseller "Blink" for Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way shingle but that seems to have stalled out; he wrote a "Speed"-like thriller called "Dead Spy Running" that McG was eyeing to direct and he also had an untitled action pic set up over at Lionsgate. Late this summer, he signed up to adapt a popular series of books by a Swedish criminologist, psychological profiler and author G.W. Perrson and he's also completed work on a pilot for NBC. But he's still angling to get back behind the camera and he's making sure he's got options, setting up two brand new projects.

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Stephen Gaghan Developing Leif G.W. Persson's Swedish Crime Books For TV

By Benjamin Wright
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August 9, 2011 6:24 AM
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1 Comment

In the wake of the success of Swedish author Stieg Larsson's "Millenium" books and subsequent film series, which includes "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo," many would have expected that his Scandinavian country would soon become a hotspot for Hollywood to dig deep for gritty crime novels ripe for adaptation. While it may not have happened as soon as many would have thought -- though Lasse Hallström is getting ready to get "The Hypnotist" with Mikael Persbrandt moving -- it looks as if 20th Century Fox are getting in on the action.

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TV News: Ridley & Tony Scott Go Racing ; Liz Meriwether & Stephen Gaghan Get Pilot Pick Up

By Kevin Jagernauth
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January 27, 2011 8:03 AM
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0 Comments

Yes, all the exciting news is coming out of Utah for the past week, but the television world has quietly been pushing forward. Here's a wrap up of some of the more intriguing film-related stuff that's been happening.

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