Bastille Day, or French National Day, is celebrated every July 14 to commemorate the revolutionary storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789. If Pierre Morel has his way, it also will be remembered as a slam-bang action thriller in the ballpark of his District B13 or Taken.
Morel will helm Bastille Day for Vendome Pictures and Anonymous Content, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Penned by Andrew Baldwin, the story follows “a young American artist living in Paris and a washed-up CIA agent who are thrown together and tasked with diverting an imminent attack on the city,” the trade reports.
So it’s Live Free or Die Hard in Paris, with – no doubt – Liam Neeson taking the role of the CIA operative. Or maybe John Travolta will be willing to shave his head once again, From Paris With Love-style, to collaborate with Morel on a second effort.
Baldwin actually has a bit of history. Two of his scripts landed on the Black List, and he’s currently hard at work on writing the Logan’s Run remake that has started and stalled off and on at different stages of production. (Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn is the latest name attached to the picture.)
Listen, I love a big, dumb, high-octane action movie as much as the next guy. And if Andrew Baldwin is the next Shane Black, meaning Bastille is the next Lethal Weapon, I’ll be crowing the loudest that you need to go see this. Until then, I’ll reserve my judgment, because the “buddy cop” genre is more than a little played out. Perhaps this is the film that revives it, instead of another nail in the coffin.
