Having worked with George Lucas and The Wachowski's on the Star Wars and Matrix franchises, James McTeigue has been in the spotlight since he first stepped behind the camera with V for Vendetta. While many consider that film a cult classic for some unknown reason, it's been diminishing returns ever since, hitting a rather embarrassing low with ponderous Edgar Allan Poe flick, The Raven. One thing he's never had a problem with is attracting big stars, and for his next project he's assembled quite a cast.
Millennium Films has tapped McTeigue to direct Survivor, with Milla Jojovich, Pierce Brosnan, Emma Thompson, and Angela Bassett starring. The script by Phil Shelby will call for Jojovich to play "a State Department employee newly posted to the American embassy in London, where she is charged with stopping terrorists from getting into the U.S. That puts her right in the line of fire and she is targeted for death and framed for crimes. Discredited, she is forced to go on the run while she tries to clear her name and stop a large-scale terrorist attack set for New Year’s Eve in Times Square"
Sounds potentially interesting, but with McTeigue on board expect it to be too dark and muddy to be properly enjoyed. He's one of the few who can make a simple film like Ninja Assassin unwatchable, so my expectations for this are pretty low. He recently came aboard the long-developing Bloodsport remake, but it looks like Survivor will be first as filming is set to begin in January. [Deadline]
