[Andy Sheets]

From Variety.com:

Quote:

Owen tracks down noir with Marlowe
Universal, Strike uncover Chandler series
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Owen

Universal Pictures and Strike Entertainment have found a new vehicle for Clive Owen: Raymond Chandler's hardboiled private eye Philip Marlowe.
Strike has made a deal with Phil Clymer at U.K.-based Chorion to get rights to a Chandler mystery series that includes "The Big Sleep" and "Farewell My Lovely." Strike's Marc Abraham and Eric Newman will produce the film, with Owen exec producing. The project is in a nascent stage -- they are courting writers and filmmakers -- and they haven't decided which title to adapt.

But they sparked to having Owen narrate the dramas in Chandler's testosterone-laced prose, something Owen did well in "Sin City." The plan is to keep the noir spirit of the Chandler books, and keep the mysteries set in the 1940s in Los Angeles, with Marlowe continuing to be the hard-drinking, wisecracking gumshoe.

Owen, who stars in U and Strike's "Children of Men," will next be seen in "The Golden Age," the Shekhar Kapur-directed sequel to "Elizabeth," and in the New Line action pic "Shoot-Em-Up."

I'm very excited by this as Owen is pretty much a perfect match for the character. Certainly helps wash out the bad taste left by the news of the updated tv series they're making

[Tim Glover]

Big fan of Owen's but he should expect some rather intense scrutiny. Not everyone can or should try this ....I wish him well and thick skin.