Paul Verhoeven

Started by MacGuffin, September 01, 2005, 12:17:25 AM

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MacGuffin

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.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

wilder

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.

wilder

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.

wilder

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 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.

wilder

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, Verhoeven points to these raucous meetings with Neumeier to advise moviemakers never to force satire. It should be a natural inclination.

WorldForgot

Hell yes, I love that premise for him. Can't wait to watch it develop, and to witness Benedetta very soon.

Robyn


RudyBlatnoyd

Seems unbelievable nowadays that a filmmaker as transgressive, provocative and smart as Verhoeven was briefly the King of Hollywood, commanding mega-budgets.

WorldForgot

Before HBO. R-Rated movies that were cerebral and goofy. Scary for their prescience, so entertaining you wanted to see them more than once.