Scribe David Koepp may be one of Hollywood’s highest paid screenwriters today but he’s also the guy I blame for movies that had decent build-up but the story went downhill or simply crash halfway through the end (Mission Impossible, The Lost World, Secret Window, Spider-Man, War Of The Worlds, Indiana Jones And The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Ghost Town). It’s been a long while since the days of Carlito’s Way and Jurassic Park. Hanging out with Steven Spielberg never earned Koepp an Oscar nomination, goes to show that Spielberg only uses Koepp’s screenwriting skills for summer blockbuster that’s all about giving you ‘firework and nothing else’…
According to Variety, Koepp is going to direct PREMIUM RUSH for Columbia Pictures, to be produced by Koepp’s old friend Gavin Polone (Hack, Secret Window, Ghost Town)
This big budget action flick was written by Koepp and John Kamps, the story is about “a twenty-something New York City bike messenger who picks up an envelope at Columbia U. A dirty cop is desperate to get his hands on the envelope and chases the bike messenger throughout the city.”
A car chasing a bike, usually I’d stop here and move on to the next info but here’s what I find very interesting. The report says that PREMIUM RUSH will feature elaborate chases in the same tone as a William Friedkin movie, and you do know which Friedkin movie they’re referring to right? It’s one of my favorite thrillers of all time, The French Connection. If you haven’t seen it, go rent it, you’ll be amazed by one of the most intense car chase scene in the history of cinema and that was in the 70s back when they didn’t get to play with the advanced VFX we do today. Now how PREMIUM RUSH is going to try to top that is beyond me.
Columbia Pictures is currently looking to cast a leading man for PREMIUM RUSH. If you ask me, it sounds like a job for Shia Labeouf.
