It was nearly two years ago we got the disappointing news that production on Olivier Assayas’ Idol’s Eye, a crime drama starring Robert De Niro, Robert Pattinson, and Rachel Weisz, had been called off just moments before shooting was to begin in Toronto. In the meantime, Assayas went off to direct Kristen Stewart once again in the ghost drama Personal Shopper (our Cannes review), but it looks like he is returning to the material.
“I hope it will be my next film. If things advance I’d like to shoot it in Toronto before the end of the winter,” he tells Screen Daily, noting that producer Charles Gillibert now has the rights to the crime drama. While he didn’t give additional details, those expecting the same cast might be disappointed. Back when production was called off, the producers stated their plans to “generate a revised script and assemble a new filmmaking team.” Considering how much of the previously attached ensemble also seems to be busy (particularly Pattinson with Claire Denis’ High Life, expected to shoot this winter), hopefully we’ll get a casting update soon.
For those wishing the star of his last two features, Stewart, may join, you can count that out. “For now there’s nothing in the pipeline. Today, I don’t have a project to propose to her although I would love to have one. I don’t rule it out for the future,” he says. Even if they aren’t working together anytime soon, Assayas does call her the “best actress of her generation,” saying, “Kristen has an infinitely larger range than many actresses of her generation. She has an inner depth coupled with a spontaneity and naturalness that sets her apart. She also has an innate understanding of cinema that makes me believe she could succeed at directing too.”
Along with a 2017 release for Personal Shopper, Assayas’ work can next be seen in Roman Polanski‘s Based on a True Story, which he wrote. “He proposed it out of the blue. I hesitated at first because it’s been 20 years since I’ve written a screenplay for another director,” he says. “The last time was for André Techiné (Alice And Martin). I think it ended up being a satisfying experience for both of us.”