The noir genre certainly is making a comeback lately. From the blockbuster Sin City to the independent Brick, people are getting back into the snappy patter, shadowy nightscapes, and “bullets and broads” mentality that made authors like Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler so popular for adaptation in the Golden age of movies. So, if noir is popular again, why not adapt those stories again, and why not turn to the people who have already proven they can handle the genre?
That’s exactly what Universal Pictures is doing with their adaptation of Chandler’s Trouble Is My Business. The studio has hired Frank Miller, of Sin City fame, to handle writing duties for the story, which features Chandler’s heroic private-eye Philip Marlowe romancing women, busting heads, and cracking cases in 1940 L.A.
Actor Clive Owen, who will be producing Trouble Is My Business and who starred in the adaptation of Miller’s Sin City told Variety, “Frank Miller knows more about noir than anyone I have ever met, and clearly the writing of Raymond Chandler has been an enormous influence on his life and his work. Miller adapting Chandler seemed like a perfect match.”
But the news gets better than the match of Miller and Chandler. Owen will not only be producing, but Trouble is being created as a starring vehicle for the actor. That’s right: Trouble Is My Business will see a reunion of Clive Owen acting out Miller’s writing.
While I had my own issues with Sin City I had a lot of respect for what it accomplished, and how well the pieces fit together was a big part of that. Anyone who has seen Owen in either Sin City or the more recent Children of Men can easily see the British actor filling Philip Marlowe’s sizable shoes. I can’t wait to hear more news on this picture.
