Brian DePalma On Board For 'Untouchables' Prequel (1 Viewer)

[Edwin Pereyra]

A prequel to the 1987 hit The Untouchables is currently in the works with Brian DePalma attached to the project again (Antoine Fuqua was originally set to direct). Currently titled, The Untouchables: Capone Rising, it is to be produced by Art Linson, the same producer on the original film, with Brian Koppelman and David Levien as screenwriters (the two had previously written Rounders).

The story will center around on young Al Capone's arrival in Chicago and his rise to criminal kingpin status. The drama charts his collision course with Irish cop Johnny Malone, the character played in the original pic by Sean Connery, according to Variety.

~Edwin

 

[Paul Sandhu]

I always thought the Untouchables had to do with Eliot Ness and the fact he and his men couldn't be bought. Now this doesn't make sense.

I think they should take out the name Untouchables since many people wouldn't really know what the name means anymore.

 

[Magnus T]

I looked at Brian De Palma's filmography at IMDB now. It's amazing that his last good film was in fact The Untouchables, which is now 18 years old.

In any case, I seriously doubt De Palma can recreate the magic of the first Untouchables. That, and he doesn't make good movies anymore. Whatever abilities De Palma had as a good filmmaker before they are now gone.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I know evaluating film is a subjective thing, but I quite enjoyed Carlito's Way, Mission Impossible, Casualties of War and Snake Eyes to a certain degree.






Crawdaddy

 

[Kevin Grey]

I thought Casualties of War was outstanding and superior to The Untouchables. I've also enjoyed several more of his films since then, though none to the extent of those two. I really hope he doesn't screw up "The Black Dahlia."

 

[streeter]

So young Malone and Capone? What would be the ideal cast?

 

[JohnMor]

I think you must have forgotten about The Bonfire of the Vanities !

 

[Jan H]

Casting idea:

Malone - Clive Owen
Capone - Michael Imperioli

As intriguing as I would find those 2 actors in the parts, I am not optimistic about this endeavor. I agree that "The Untouchables' in the title is a moronic idea, and that DePalma is a has-been.

 

[Colton]

The Untouchables: Capone Rising? Bad idea. They should go post-Untouchables - they should do "Torso" about how Eliot Ness hunted for the Cleveland Torso killer. Excellent story and rumors that Ness knew who the killer was, but still unsolved.

Read up:

http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_k...y/index_1.html

http://www.prairieghosts.com/torso.html

The biggest advantage in the case, as seen by the citizens of Cleveland, was that since the double murder in September, a new director of public safety had been appointed to oversee the police department. His name was Eliot Ness and he had achieved fame just a few years before for cleaning up the city of Chicago with the assistance of his "Untouchables". He had come to Cleveland to fight the gangsters, gambling and corruption in the city and soon found himself embroiled in the hunt for the sadistic killer. The newspapers and the people on the street were confident that Ness would make the city safe again. Ness was not so confident. It soon became clear to him that hunting down a lone killer was not like battling organized crime. The Butcher struck at random, leaving no clues behind, and despite well-organized searches and investigations, the killer managed to stay several steps ahead of the police department and Cleveland’s famous public safety director.

THIS WOULD BE AN EXCELLENT MOVIE!!!

- Colton

 

[Paul Sandhu]

Colton, I love that idea.


You know what would make that idea better? Have Kevin Costner return as Ness!

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

Actually DePalma has made very few good films. When you remove a good majority of the films he made pre-1974, Carrie, Blow Out, The Untouchables, Dressed to Kill, and Scarface out of his filmography... simply put, you're left with a lot of crap. The man lost any source of street cred decades ago. Remember, this is the man that provided us with such cinema classics like: Femme Fatale, Mission To Mars, Snake Eyes, Raising Cain, The Bonfire of the Vanities, Wise Guys, and Body Double (just to name a few).

I'd rather have Antoine Fuqua in the director's chair (I do think the man has promise, he just hasn't shown it since Training Day) than DePalma, but I'm not running Hollywood.

 

[Seth Paxton]

I like Body Double, his version of Vertigo of course.

But the problem he always faced was that 3 of his films from his prime era were direct remakes of Hitch films, complete with Hitch touches.

Dressed to Kill = Psycho
Body Double = Vertigo
Blow Out = Rear Window (but with a twist ending)

Then of course Scarface was also a remake of a classic, and not as different as you might think, plus carried in some ways by Pacino's effort.

I love a lot of DePalma's work, but I'm not entirely sure its due much to him. Carlito was decent and interesting, and I love Mission Impossible up till the end. CofWar is pretty good.


Anyway, this doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

 

[Juan C]

In France you can't say that and expect to come out alive. They adore him. I sneak a look at the Cahiers du cinéma every time a DePalma film gets released to read all the irrational raves. They even ate Mission to Mars.

About the Untouchables prequel, my feelings are between "ho hum" and "WTF?".

 

[Colton]

"You know what would make that idea better? Have Kevin Costner return as Ness!"

Paul, I couldn't agree more! It would be an excellent follow-up from The Untouchables. Torso would be the fall of Eliot Ness and would make a great closure film.

- Colton

 

[JohnMor]

Colton, I think you have a GREAT film there. I would love to see that story told.