As the recently lukewarm/disappointing The Taking of Pelham 123 fizzles further and further into the box office night, Fox continues to struggle to find a suitable budget for Scott’s next project, a runaway train thriller entitled Unstoppable, set to star Denzel Washinton and Chris “Captain Kirk” Pine, accoring to Variety.
Although it’s still set for a 2010 summer release, the film has yet to be green lit, and the the prices of Washington and Scott remain high while Pine’s has obviously shot up due to his deserved Star Trek success.
We reported on this new Scott action film a while back, and there was no set cast at that point. Washington and Pine would be an ideal pairing in terms on star power, both young and old (much better than old and old, as the recent Pelham demonstrated).
However, it’s curious to me why Scott continues to get so much money for such high-profile projects. Aside from the so-so success of Deja Vu and Man on Fire, his recent films (think epic flops like Spy Game and Domino) have struggled while his recent experimental/hybrid digi-film style has grown tired.
If Fox is hoping for the successes of Enemy of the State or Crimson Tide (and the quality for that matter), they may as well fire Scott and hire Len Wiseman – the guy who gave us Live Free or Die Hard and the first two Underworld films.
He’s younger, cheaper and he knows how to please new action audiences in ways Scott is apparently still has not graped.
What do you think? Does Scott still have it, or has he finally been stopped?