Robocop director begins filming World War II tale in The Hague
THE HAGUE - Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven, celebrated as the director of "Basic Instinct" and "Robocop", began filming a story set in the Netherlands in World War II, the biggest-budget Dutch movie ever.
"Black Book", which tells of the resistance to the German occupation, is being made in Dutch and German. It is Verhoeven's first full-length feature for five years. Its central character is a Jewish cabaret star.
Filming is taking place in The Hague, used by the Germans as the seat of government during the occupation and restored in part to its appearance at that time. However some street signs are in English to cater for the US market.
The movie has a budget of 16 million euros (19.7 million dollars). Filming is due to be completed by December and the film is due for release in September 2006, in time to be an Oscars contender as Best Foreign Language Film.
Verhoeven, 67, made 13 films in the Netherlands before moving to Hollywood where he had a hit with "Robocop", a science fiction story that cost 13 million dollars (10.5 million euros) to make and netted 53 million dollars (42 million euros) in the United States.
Later films included other science fiction movies such as "Total Recall" and "Starship Troopers" as well as the critically-panned "Showgirls" but his biggest hit came in 1992 with "Basic Instinct" starring Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone: made with a budget of 50 million dollars its receipts worldwide total 353 million dollars (285 million euros) so far.
where do i start with this post? i've been watching his early dutch work and i think it's just fantastic. films like TURKS FRUIT (1973), KEETJE TIPPEL (1975), SOLDAAT VAN ORANJE (1977), SPETTERS (1980) and DE VIERDE MAN (1983) are very wonderful films. of course his later american films are infamous for being very horrible. because of this, verhoeven is seen as a horrible filmmaker which i think is very unfair. he's very smart and has a great film sensibility. the only difference between european and american film is, of course, sex. verhoeven explores sex in very interesting ways. he shows it head on. all the good and bad things that come with it. also i just LOVE hearing him talk about film. he's very clever. his commentaries are just great! he uses the same actors in most of his films, mainly rutger hauer, monica van de ven and renée soutendijk. to me, monica van de ven and renée soutendijk are to verhoeven as anna karina is to godard. not to have a cruch on monica van de ven is completely insane to me (especially in KEETJE TIPPEL).
if you don't have a problem with realism, nudity, sex and violence in film then i HIGHLY recommend watching the early dutch works of paul verhoeven. i kinda wanna re watch his american films just to see if his sensibility has changed.
Verhoeven Employs A "Paperboy"
Filmick reports that Paul Verhoeven's next project will be an adaptation of Pete Dexter's "The Paperboy" to shoot in early 2008.
Set in and around Moat County Florida in the 1960s, the novel is a murder investigation - crusading journalist - serial killer mystery.
A decade ago Pedro Almodovar tried to put the film into production, but it never got off the ground.
Verhoeven's other new films "The Winter Queen" and "Kneeling on a Bed of Violets" are apparently still very much in the works.
Verhoeven to Direct Thomas Crown Sequel
Source: FilmTotaal
Paul Verhoeven (Black Book, Basic Instinct, Total Recall told Dutch radio program "Met Het Oog Op Morgen" ("With the Eye on Tomorrow") this week that he will direct the sequel to 1999's The Thomas Crown Affair.
The follow-up, again starring Pierce Brosnan, is titled The Topkapi Affair and will draw on material from 1964's Topkapi, an MGM film, and the Eric Ambler novel which it was based on, called "The Light of the Day."
Paul Verhoeven takes on Jesus
Source: Hollywood Reporter
AMSTERDAM -- Dutch director Paul Verhoeven will publish his long-awaited biography of Jesus of Nazareth in September.
Published by Amsterdam-based Meulenhoff, the book is the result of more than 20 years of research. Over the years, Verhoeven was a regular attendee of U.S. scholar Robert W. Funk's Jesus seminars, which call into question miracles and statements attributed to Jesus.
Verhoeven claims to portray Jesus in the most realistic way in his book, co-written by his biographer, Rob van Scheers.
One of his conclusions deals with the fact that Jesus was probably the son of Mary and a Roman soldier who raped her during the Jewish uprising in Galilee. Verhoeven also claims that Christ was not betrayed by Judas Iscariot.
Verhoeven, who turns 70 in July, has had a lifelong ambition to make a film about Jesus, based on scientific research. Verhoeven decided to write the book to raise interest in the project. His publisher is in negotiations for an English-language translation.
Verhoeven eyes Miller's erotic thriller
Relativity, De Luca to produce untitled script
Source: Variety
Paul Verhoeven is eyeing a return to the world of erotic thrillers.
The "Basic Instinct" helmer is in talks to direct the untitled Wendy Miller thriller for Relativity Media.
Story centers on a college intern who finds himself trapped in a dangerous affair with the boss's wife. Project is described as "Risky Business" meets "Fatal Attraction."
Michael De Luca is producing via his Sony-based De Luca Prods. banner. Relativity's Ryan Kavanaugh and Tucker Tooley are also producing; De Luca Prods.' Alissa Phillips exec produces. Luber/Roklin Entertainment's Stephen Crawford, who developed the project with tyro scribe Miller, also will exec produce alongside colleague Matt Luber.
Relativity, which picked up the script in May, has fast-tracked the project and is eyeing a first-quarter 2009 start date. Miller is penning a rewrite under Verhoeven's direction.
De Luca most recently teamed with Relativity on the upcoming Jim Sheridan-helmed drama "Brothers," which stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire.
Dutch-born Verhoeven most recently directed the 2006 WWII espionage thriller "Black Book." He is attached to a dozen or so projects, including a "Thomas Crown Affair" sequel for MGM, with Pierce Brosnan attached to star.
Verhoeven on tap for 'Surrogate'
Fox thriller lures Dutch director back to Hollywood
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Paul Verhoeven is coming back to America.
The Dutch director, who most recently helmed his native-tongued "Black Book," has come aboard to develop and direct "The Surrogate," a thriller for 20th Century Fox. Ralph Winter is producing via his Winter Road shingle along with Deborah Giarratana, Robin Guthrie and Susana Zepeda.
Based on the 2004 book by Kathryn Mackel, the story centers on a couple desperate to have a child who find themselves in an unbearable position when they find out the surrogate they hired to carry their baby is insane.
The project originally was set up at Fox Atomic but moved to Fox proper when Atomic was shuttered. Debbie Liebling, who ran Atomic, is overseeing "Surrogate."
Roderick Taylor and Bruce Taylor wrote the original draft.
Winter, a producer on Fox's "X-Men" movies, most recently was a producer on "X-Men Origins: Wolverine."
Verhoeven, repped by ICM and Marion Rosenberg, became one of Hollywood's most sought-after directors in the 1990s with such movies as "Total Recall" and "Basic Instinct." He became disenchanted with Tinseltown after his 2000 sci-fi thriller "Hollow Man" fizzled. He then returned to the Netherlands, where he made "Book." The World War II thriller won several awards and thrust him back in the limelight.
Verhoeven is developing several projects, including "The Winter Queen," with Milla Jovovich attached to star.
Saw him last night discussing his book Jesus of Nazareth. My favorite part was his insistence that Jesus was simply a talented exorcist (like in the Friedkin movie!).
Why'd RoboCop/Starship Troopers director turn to Jesus?
Source: SciFi Wire
Wonder what RoboCop and Starship Troopers bad-boy director Paul Verhoeven's been up to lately? How about writing a scholarly book about Jesus?
That's just what he's done, according to a report on The Wall Street Journal's Speak Easy blog.
Before you get the wrong idea, the sex-and-violence director of Basic Instinct hasn't gone religious on us: He's a longtime researcher for the Jesus Seminar in Los Angeles, a group that tries to get at the root of the historical figure of Jesus. In his book, Verhoeven explicitly calls himself a "nonbeliever."
Here's more from Speak Easy:
Paul Verhoeven, director of "Robocop," "Basic Instinct" and "Starship Troopers," has long been known for perfecting the art of the subversive blockbuster.
However, he may have topped that feat with his latest achievement: "Jesus of Nazareth" (Seven Stories Press), a quasi-scholarly, 200-page portrayal of Christianity's most emblematic figure from a realistic perspective.
The newly released book, which reflects Verhoeven's 25 years of research as a member of the Jesus Seminar in Los Angeles, blends historical insights with the filmmaker's flair for drama. ...
Although he describes himself in "Jesus of Nazareth" as a "non-theologian, non-believer and a movie director to boot," Verhoeven seemed less interested in dispelling the mythology of Jesus (whom he believes to have existed) than in fleshing out the darker details of the alleged messiah's life. He compared biblical descriptions of Jesus performing exorcisms to "The Exorcist," saying, "This was not a light touch. It was much more violent."
So the natural question: Will he make a movie out of this? Don't count on it: Verhoeven says he doesn't think Hollywood would be interested.
Quote from: MacGuffin on April 09, 2010, 03:15:53 PM
So the natural question: Will he make a movie out of this? Don't count on it: Verhoeven says he doesn't think Hollywood would be interested.
But he's dying for it, of course. A potential Jesus film is repeatedly referenced to in his book, and multiple times he stated he'd like to make the film. He doesn't believe a good film about Jesus has been made yet (his favorite thus far is Pasolini's The Gospel According to St. Matthew). The problem is simply a green-light, and it's not hard to see, basically by his own admission, the book as an opportunity to raise interest in the film. He feels Hollywood isn't interest in provocative filmmaking anymore and that's why he so much trouble financing films there. Hollywood he specifically mentioned by the way, "If they gave me a lot of money in Hollywood I'd make the film," although I think Black Book demonstrated he doesn't need Hollywood.
But he also said he wrote a book because you can explore different avenues of thought more effectively in a novel than in a film. In a film it's difficult to suggest alternate interpretations and tangential thoughts without drifting from the narrative and confusing the audience.
The book is basically a bunch of fun. "Quasi-scholarly" is a good way of describing it, emphasis on quasi. My second favorite moment, after the exorcism bit, was when he said that "the kingdom of heaven annexed Jesus' libido."
EXCLUSIVE: Paul Verhoeven Pushes Play On Video Game Adaptation Set In 1914
Source: MTV
UPDATE: /Film editor Peter Sciretta rightly points out that a very likely candidate for this adaptation is mystery/adventure game "The Last Express," created by none other than "Prince of Persia" architect Jordan Mechner. With "Prince" getting a soon-to-release adaptation and Mechner so freshly finished with that movie's screenplay, I'd frankly be surprised if this adaptation didn't turn out to be "The Last Express." Good catch guys.
Paul Verhoeven is a rare genius, the sort that not everyone recognizes. On the surface, works like "Starship Troopers," "Basic Instinct" and "RoboCop" seem like popcorn blockbusters, but there's a lot going on beneath the surface for those who choose to look for it. Fans should be excited then that the filmmaker is turning his attention to a medium that has frequently been abused by past Hollywood adaptations: video games.
"I am working on a movie now that is... situated in 1914. Basically, Indiana Jones-ish you could say, but also Hitchcockian," he explained in a recent interview with MTV's Josh Horowitz. "We are scripting it. It's an idea that exists already... from another medium, and so we are making it now into a film narrative." Which medium, Josh asked. "A game, a video game."
Unfortunately, Verhoeven is unwilling to reveal the identity of his source material just yet, though the game's writer is apparently involved in developing it. "The writer of the video game has asked me to keep [the identity of the game] secret until he has a script."
I conferred with MTV Multiplayer editor Russ Frushtick, and we couldn't think of too many possibilities with a 1914 setting. Polish import "NecroVisioN" seems unlikely, as it is a World War I-set first-person shooter, and not really in the thriller vein. "Red Dead Redemption," the upcoming Rockstar Western, is set in the early-1900s, but it also doesn't feel quite right.
Verhoeven is a longtime fan of Alfred Hitchcock. "Basic Instinct" finds clear inspiration in the master auteur's work, and there are echoes of him in much of Verhoeven's Dutch work, such as "The Fourth Man." The real mystery today is this next movie. Which game could Verhoeven be working on an adaptation of?
What's the subversive genius of Starship Troopers again? Did it really have any substance behind it, or was it only vague ideas masked behind an action B-Movie homage. All i can remember is the effects were terrible and every actor sucked hard. Needs more Jeff Goldblum.
Paul Verhoeven To Direct Sexy Ghost Thriller 'Eternal'
Source: The Playlist
It's been a few years since Paul Verhoeven's WWII drama "Black Book," a marked departure from the director's usual fare of boobs and bullets. Over the past few months he's been attached to a couple of projects, the Islam and psychic powers film "The Hidden Force" and the video game adaptation "The Last Express," but it looks like his next will find him in very familiar territory. Deadline reports that Verhoeven has signed to direct "Eternal," a "Fatal Attraction"-with-ghost story. Start getting those Razzies ready. The film will follow a married recovering alcoholic who "helps a woman threatening to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge. They end up in bed, and in a torrid sexual affair. When he gets home, he's confronted by his wife and a private investigator, with photos spread across a table. He thinks he's busted, but the photos that should have shown him in the clinches with his mistress instead show him alone, drinking alcohol. He initially questions his own sanity, but progressively figures out that this temptress is a ghost who is after his soul." With a script by David Loughery ("Obsessed," "Lakeview Terrace") being rewritten by Richard D'Ovidio ("Exit Wounds," "Thirteen Ghosts") this has quality written all over it. Production on the film isn't set to begin until next summer, so Verhoeven has plenty of time to reconsider and change his mind.
Running with scissors: the director of 'Robocop' and 'Showgirls' bets on his fans and loses
via The Verge
Paul Verhoeven struggles with the crowd in 'Tricked'
Debuting his latest film at Tribeca, director Paul Verhoeven took the stage on an almost apologetic note. "I hope that you enjoy it, and will accept the moral choices I made while making the movie." Coming from a man best known for the super-charged sex and violence of RoboCop, Total Recall, and Showgirls, it's downright bewildering.
If he's cautious, it's because he just took a big risk and got burned. His latest movie, Tricked, was conceived as "the first user-generated film," in the words of his producer. It would be a story guided entirely by the audience. Verhoeven began by filming a five-minute script (the first episode), put it online, and asked the audience to write scripts for the next five minutes. All the filmmakers had to do was choose the best one and get filming. The final product is something of a double feature: first, a 50-minute documentary about the process, then the 40-minute short they actually shot.
Starting out, the crew is all smiles. Verhoeven talks about how inspiring it is to plunge into the unknown, how that leap has inspired all his best work. The actors are nervous, but excited. How do you play a character if you don't know where they're going? How will their humble ship of a film navigate the surging ocean of creativity they're about to set loose?
Then, as anyone familiar with the internet would expect, things go wrong. They get lots of submissions – over 35,000 scripts, with 12 teams producing video mockups on YouTube – but none of them exactly work. "I figured there would only be one or two great ones," Verhoeven muses, but it's a mess of conflicting ideas. From the initial domestic drama, contributors throw in alien landings and murderous yakuza. In a Q&A after the Tribeca screening, Verhoeven described one writer who submitted extended sadomasochistic sex scenes for every episode. How do you make a movie out of that?
As Verhoeven apologetically explains halfway through the documentary section, things like tone and structure are very important in screenwriting. When you give your script up to the crowd, you lose control of them. No one could copy the style of the initial draft, or guide it to any kind of climax or conclusion. The film students who had studied story structure rejected Verhoeven's idea as an insult to writers, and he was left with a jumble of contradictions. Finally, he called in a genuine screenwriter to sort through the chaos, to cull the best ideas and write whatever needed to be written in between. Verhoeven estimates about 70 percent of the final script came from the audience, but it was well-massaged enough to be nearly unrecognizable.
The result is a strange hybrid. The crowd had some great ideas, including a scissor-stabbing climax that's too good to spoil. Even the S&M obsessive got in on the fun, contributing an unexpected breast-flashing scene that establishes the film's offbeat sexuality early on. Of course, it's a more interesting moment when it's not followed by five minutes of implausible sex, but that's what editors are for.
As a whole, Tricked still has its problems. The first half of the double feature drags on, and moment to moment it's never quite as interesting as the process it's trying to show. The second half of the feature is stronger, but the tonal problems are hard to shake, veering from corporate drama to sex farce as the story progresses.
This is minor Verhoeven, destined to be a blip in his filmography between Black Book and whatever he takes on next. But as a tale of crowd-sourcing gone wrong, it could be much more enduring. As Verhoeven put it in the Q&A, "it was much, much harder than I thought." By now, he's learned his lesson: the crowds aren't always as wise as you hope they'll be.
Tricked - Trailer (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xrgwxa_tricked-trailer-voste_shortfilms)
This reminds me, I bought the DVD of Black Book a few years ago and I still haven't watched it. I should get on that one of these days.
The untitled Paul Verhoeven project is an adaptation of French writer Philippe Djian's 2012 novel Oh!, revolving around a psychological game of cat-and-mouse between a businesswoman and a stalker who raped her, a crime for which she is seeking revenge.
"Casting is being finalised. It's a very intelligent script but it's also pure Verhoeven, extremely erotic and perverted, so the actress has to be prepared to take that on," said Wild Bunch co-chief Vincent Maraval.
Paul Verhoeven To Reunite With 'Elle' Star For Lesbian Nun Drama 'Blessed Virgin'
via The Playlist
The film's an adaptation of Judith C. Brown's academic book "Immodest Acts: The Life Of A Lesbian Nun In Renaissance Italy," about 17th-century abbess Benedetta Carlini, who became a notable figure in the Church after having religious visions and even stigmata, only to suffer a downfall after her claims of miracles were revealed to be fakes, and her affairs with other nuns came to light. Belgian actress Virginie Efira, who played the wife of Huppert's neighbor in "Elle," will take on the lead role.
Paul Verhoeven Reportedly Directing A TV Series Based On The Classic French Novel, 'Bel Ami'
The Playlist
Fresh off the news that Paul Verhoeven's new film, "Benedetta," is skipping the film festivals in 2020 for a May 2021 release date, due to the COVID-19 pandemic canceling the Cannes Film Festival, it appears that the filmmaker is already lining up his next project, an adaptation of the classic novel "Bel Ami," which will bring him back to the world of TV.
Producer Saïd Ben Saïd announced the news on Twitter, writing, "Paul Verhoeven is set to take on a series adaptation of the classic French novel « Bel Ami ». He will serve as a showrunner and direct the entire series (8 episodes) in French language. Gerard Soeteman (Black book, flesh and blood, Spetters, etc) has written the 8 episodes." He further explained in another tweet that each episode of the series will clock in around 52 minutes.
And though this isn't coming from Verhoeven or a trade outlet, Saïd Ben Saïd would likely be someone who definitely knows what's going on with the filmmaker, as they have collaborated on numerous films, including the upcoming drama "Benedetta."
"Bel Ami" is based on the novel by French author Guy de Maupassant. The book tells the story of journalist Georges Duroy's rise to power from a French soldier in the African colonies in the 19th century to one of the most powerful men in Paris.
Verhoeven isn't a stranger to TV productions, having helmed a few in his career, but "Bel Ami" would be the first series for the filmmaker for decades, dating back to an episode of "Deadly Nightmares" in 1986. More recently, Verhoeven has worked on films such as "Elle" and "Tricked."
"Bel Ami" has been adapted numerous times into films and TV series. The most recent attempt was in 2012 with a film starring Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Christina Ricci.
It's unclear when we might see "Bel Ami" arrive on TV screens, or even what platform or network will distribute the series.
Paul Verhoeven Is Making An American Spy Thriller & Plans To Turn His 'Jesus Of Nazareth' Book Into A Film
The Playlist
Verhoeven has revealed to Variety (https://variety.com/2021/film/news/paul-verhoeven-sex-religion-benedetta-basic-instinct-crusade-1235013278/) that he'll be returning to an American setting with an untitled spy thriller that takes place in Washinton D.C.; however, he didn't elaborate further with any plot details. He also reiterated a plan to make a feature adaptation of his book "Jesus of Nazareth."
"I'm developing a couple of projects. One is an American movie — a spy thriller that's going to be set in Washington. I'm also going to make a movie based on my book about Jesus," the filmmaker said to Variety when asked about his upcoming projects.
Here is the official synopsis of that book:
Building on the work of biblical scholars—Rudolph Bultmann, Raymond Brown, Jane Schaberg, and Robert Funk, among others—filmmaker Paul Verhoeven disrobes the mythical Jesus to reveal a man who has much in common with other great political leaders throughout history—human beings who believed that change was coming in their lifetimes. Gone is the Jesus of the miracles, gone the son of God, gone the weaver of arcane parables whose meanings are obscure. In their place, Verhoeven gives us his vision of Jesus as a complete man, someone who was changed by events, the leader of a political movement, and, perhaps most importantly, someone who, in his speeches and sayings, introduced a new ethic in which the embrace of human contradictions transcends the mechanics of value and worth that had defined the material world before Jesus.
Paul Verhoeven Reteams with RoboCop Writer Edward Neumeier for Thriller in Vein of Basic Instinct
MovieMaker
Benedetta director Paul Verhoeven is working with screenwriter Edward Neumeier on a new political thriller titled Young Sinner , Verhoeven and Neumeier tell MovieMaker .
The two previously collaborated on 1987's RoboCop — which Neumeier co-wrote with Michael Miner — and a decade later with Starship Troopers (1997) . But this new project is not science fiction.
"Young Sinner is a political thriller set in Washington, D.C.," Neumeier says. "Our heroine, a young staffer who works for a powerful Senator, is drawn into a web of international intrigue and danger, and of course there is also a little sex."
"I'm really think that what Neumeier and I, at this moment, want to do with this script, Young Sinner , will be an innovative version of movies like Fatal Attraction and Basic Instinct ," Verhoeven explains. "And it would not be adding all kinds of digital elements. As little as possible."
Fatal Attraction (1987) and Basic Instinct (1992) stand out as pinnacles in the erotic thriller genre — a genre which has largely disappeared in the past two decades.
Verhoeven says he has been looking for this type of film for "the last 10-15 years." And his own Black Book from 2006 "was a little bit like that already, and even Elle , because that's also some kind of thriller."
But where those two were smaller arthouse films, Young Sinner promises to be something bigger.
"But this would be more explosive, and more open-minded to a big audience," Verhoeven says.
"We have been consulting with a former intelligence officer, Ron Marks, who is trying to keep us real about Capitol Hill and the spy business, but satire always seems to emerge when Paul and I work together, so I expect our new adventure will have a light tone," Neumeier says.
Creating that light tone involves lots of laughter during the creative process. "If you see us working basically, it's often just laughing. We laugh at our own satire that we bring in, not because we want to bring it in — it comes from our conversation. It just pops up," Verhoeven says.
In our recent Things I've Learned feature (https://www.moviemaker.com/paul-verhoeven-things-ive-learned-as-a-moviemaker/), Verhoeven points to these raucous meetings with Neumeier to advise moviemakers never to force satire. It should be a natural inclination.
Hell yes, I love that premise for him. Can't wait to watch it develop, and to witness Benedetta very soon.
Same!
Seems unbelievable nowadays that a filmmaker as transgressive, provocative and smart as Verhoeven was briefly the King of Hollywood, commanding mega-budgets.
Before HBO. R-Rated movies that were cerebral and goofy. Scary for their prescience, so entertaining you wanted to see them more than once.