Gary Ross to Write Spielberg's Ex - MATT HELM Film Project

We recently reported that Gary Ross (Seabiscuit) would be re-writing and possibly directing the new Venom film that Sony is developing. Now it looks like Venom is going to to have to take a backseat at the moment so Gary Ross can work on the project, Matt Helm, which originally had Steven Spielberg attached to direct. He has since moved away from the project.

Matt Helm is based of a book series about secret agent, has been under development for several years at DreamWorks, it is also one of the films left for Paramount to deal with after the two studios parted ways, they own 100% of the Matt Helm property. Even thought the project is still over at Paramount Steven Spielberg still was planning on directing it.

Throughout the years of trying to get Matt Helm developed, a script was written by Paul Attanasio (Donnie Brasco, The Fighter) George Clooney passed on the lead role, then Jon Hamm came along who would have been perfect, but then that didn't work out. As of right now Bradley Cooper (the Hangover) is at the top of the list of potential actors to star in the film. No deal is set yet, but he might just be the right man for the job. I bet he can pull it off.

Now that Ross is on board Matt Helm is prepping up to shoot in the summer of next year, which is why Venom is just going to have to wait.

Matt Helm is based on a series of 27 novels written by Donald Hamilton about a U.S. government counter-agent, he’s a man whose primary job is to kill or nullify enemy agents, not a spy or secret agent in the ordinary sense of the term as used in spy thrillers. While the novels were set in the post-WWII Cold War era, the current film will be set in the present.

Source: The Playlist