George also did a draft for "Suburbicon" script

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What projects are you currently working on? What’s up next for you?

I’ve had this script that I’ve had for a long time called Suburbicon that the Coen brothers wrote in 1986. In 2006 they came back and wrote another draft for me and I’ve been sitting on it. George Clooney called me a few months ago and said he’d like to direct it. So we talked to the Ethan and Joel Coen and they said that if that’s what he [Clooney] really wants to do then they’d love for him to do it. So he brought a whole new angle to it. He did a draft that was really interesting and effective and he got Matt Damon to star in it with Julianne Moore, Oscar Isaac and Josh Brolin. It starts shooting in the fall and it’s an exciting, thrilling Coen brothers movie that has a great kind of social relevance to it. I’m working on that. 

From the producer Joel Silver.

What George recently said of "Suburbicon":
You’re also directing “Suburbicon,” starring Matt Damon, from a screenplay they wrote around the time of “Blood Simple.” 
It’s an interesting story. It takes place in the suburbs in 1947. It’s kind of a thriller. It’s kind of a comedy. It’s a very dark comedy from a young man’s point of view about all the things that are going wrong in his house.

Why did you decide to finally make it?
When I was doing “O Brother,” they sent it to me and asked if I was interested. It just never got legs. All the other movies came and got going. This one was commissioned, so it sat around. For the last year, I’ve been looking for something to direct. I called Bryan Lourd, my agent. I said, “How many movies have I looked at?” He said, “About 85 in the last year.” A lot of them are being made. But I just thought, it’s not in my wheelhouse or it’s not my taste. Then I remembered “Suburbicon.” I had an old script on my shelf. I called up the boys and said, “You’re not doing anything with it, are you?” They were like, “No.” So I said, “I’d like to take a crack at it.”
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It's interesting to read George's comments about looking for the right project for himself.  He seems pretty selective on working on projects that are just right for him.  Suburbicon looks like it definitely fits the bill.  A mix of comedy and drama, dark, and character driven.

George's changes to the script seem to impress the producer a lot. A great film in the making. Can't wait!
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How is Suburbicon coming together?

SILVER: It’s pretty much together now. The Coen brothers originally wrote the script in 1986, right after Blood Simple. I met the Coen brothers at a bowling alley at the premiere party of Blood Simple. I’ve known them 30 years. When we were making The Hudsucker Proxy, they said, “We wrote a script for Warners.” They didn’t even realize they owned it ‘cause it was through an old deal. It took them awhile to find it, but they finally found a copy of the script on microfiche in Fort Lee, NJ in some Warner Bros. vault. It took them a few years to find the script, and then to find out that Warner Bros. owned it. And then, Joel and Ethan wanted to rewrite it because they wrote it in 1986. Through Dark Castle, we paid them and they wrote a new draft of the movie, taking place today, which I got about ten years ago, in 2006. They said, “Well, maybe we’ll direct it. We’re not sure.” And [George] Clooney knew about it ‘cause they had told him about it. It was a part they had written and hoped that he would play, and he was intrigued by that. I was actually in London dubbing [The Nice Guys], and Clooney’s agent called to tell me that I was going to get a call from George. As I was on the phone with him, I got a call from George and he said, “I want to do it, but I want to make a change.” I said, “We own it. We’re sitting on it, so whatever you want to do.” So, he and Grant [Heslov] set it in 1957, and he got Matt [Damon], Julianne [Moore], Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin and Woody Harrelson. It is a really early, perfect Coen brothers script, and George has added a layer to it that really makes it so current, so effective, so topical, and so great. We’re going to shoot it in the fall, and I think it’s going to be a great movie.

It has to take a very specific point of view to add on to a Coen brothers movie.

SILVER: He’s been in so many of their movies. He’s one of their go-to people, so he knows them very well. He matched their writing style. What he did was that he changed an important element of it, and I think it makes it even more exciting.

Let's hope some of the comments on here over the last few years that maybe George should leave the writing to the writers are not borne out by this project.  Can he improve on the Coen's version?  Can he avoid some of the dated tropes/elements he's put in some of the things he's directed in the past?

Too funny .  The Coen 's are slapping their knees . He he heeeeee 

fava wrote:Let's hope some of the comments on here over the last few years that maybe George should leave the writing to the writers are not borne out by this project.  Can he improve on the Coen's version?  Can he avoid some of the dated tropes/elements he's put in some of the things he's directed in the past?

Seems like he got a big thumbs up from producer Joel Silver so that's a good sign. We will have to wait and see if it has that distinctive Coen Brothers feel to it but since George understands their material so well I think that's a plus.

Silver's new production Nice Guys which just opened is running up against Money Monster at the box office this weekend.

I do like the changes George did to "Confessions"...hope it's bringing another layer to the story with a wit touch of his own style. George is the director, and he deserves to shoot the movie with some personal opinions.
The Coen brothers are too unique to completely be imitated.

I don't think George would try to imitate the Coen brothers' style. This is his film now. He might ask their opinion along the way, maybe show them a rough cut and see what they think, but I don't think it would go further than that.

Donnamarie wrote:

fava wrote:Let's hope some of the comments on here over the last few years that maybe George should leave the writing to the writers are not borne out by this project.  Can he improve on the Coen's version?  Can he avoid some of the dated tropes/elements he's put in some of the things he's directed in the past?

Seems like he got a big thumbs up from producer Joel Silver so that's a good sign. We will have to wait and see if it has that distinctive Coen Brothers feel to it but since George understands their material so well I think that's a plus.

Silver's new production Nice Guys which just opened is running up against Money Monster at the box office this weekend.

Speaking of the Nice Guys, it got spectacular reviews from the critics, yet its boxoffice performance is pretty poor. Same with Geoge's Coens comedy Hail Caesar. I do wish this producer and others from the marketing team would try to do something different with Suburbicon.
IMO, Money Monster was marketed very well and outperformed industry expectations.
Some comments from Deadline.com:
While that’s better than expected for the Ryan Gosling-Russell Crowe combo, the pic’s reviews didn’t push it to over-perform its projections like Money Monster did last weekend. The George Clooney-Julia Roberts movie made $4.8M more than its projected $10M for $14.8M. It’s sad but in this crowded blockbuster summer, no one is expecting these smart adult films to last that long at the multiplex.  Nice Guys‘ PostTrak scores of 75% positive and 52% definite recommend are lower than Sony’s Money Monster‘s respective 81% and 56% in its first week; granted the latter had more of an even male-female split, but both brought in a heavy adult crowd. According to one set of estimates tonight, Money Monster rose 64% on Saturday for $3M-$3.15M on its way to second frame of $7M for a 10-day take of $27M.
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When I went to see Money Monster last weekend they had a preview for Nice Guys. The audience was laughing continuously throughout the preview. They seemed really receptive. But when it (and for that matter Money Monster) goes up against an opening weekend for Angry Birds, and another comic book hit like Captain America that's a steep hill to climb.

Where I live there was a saturation of tv marketing for Money Monster. And it started pretty early. I can count on one hand how many times I saw a trailer for Nice Guys. Ive only read two reviews for that movie and they were decent. I think for many adults who saw Money Monster it was the appeal of seeing Julia and George together. And the subject matter seemed timely. Very attractive to mature adults.

I don't think George will try to imitate the Coen Brothers style in Suburbicon. It will probably have the essence of the Coens' style but George's influence over the script and his directorial style will make it his own IMO.

George has known and worked with the Coen's for several years.  I am so sure that he will certainly "steal" some of their ways.

The Big Lebowski , Julianne Moore was in it .   

amaretti wrote:The Big Lebowski , Julianne Moore was in it .   

Geez amaretti. Forgot about that one! A very young Julianne. Thanks!

George openly admits he steals (shots, etc) stuff from other directors all the time.

fava wrote:George openly admits he steals (shots, etc) stuff from other directors all the time.

Yep George has said many times that he takes ideas, etc. from other movies and uses them in his own films. Since this story is written by the Coens and George has tweeked it I would think it will have the feel of a Coens movie but I would hope and guess that George will put his own spin on it. As the director it will be interesting to see how he makes it his own.

It baffles me that on this film's IMdB page, Grant has been added in the listing of writers alongside the Coens, in stead of George.
If what the producer said were true, would it be that George didn't get his credits for the rewrites?
There's a potential Oscar nomination here for the script!

Sevens - If they listed the Coens and George as writers it's probable that George made significant changes to the Coen brothers' original script. Besides, if it really is a potential Oscar winner, George would want his name on it, too, so he can bring home another statue.

Does anyone know if you have to be in the union to be credited as a writer?  George had a tiff with them and quit (was it over Leatherheads or maybe Ides of March?) and my very dim recall is that it had some effect on future writing credits.  But I could very well have it all wrong!

Here's a Variety article to remind us of George's rift with the Writers Guild of America.  Check out Heslov's comments on how George views possessory credit. George is now a "financial core" member of the WGA. He pays reduced membership dues and has limited union privileges.

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George is a 'financial core' ('fi-core') member of the WGA, which he opted to become after the guild denied him writing credit on the rewrite of 'Leatherheads.' He pays dues and can be awarded credits, but he cannot vote, be an officer or speak on behalf of the guild, or receive any of its member benefits.

I think he's okay with his decision.

Ah. Didn't read the above post before sending mine.

^^^

I think that fixes my boo-boo from yesterday, when I was too dense to keep the threads straight.

fava wrote:Does anyone know if you have to be in the union to be credited as a writer?  George had a tiff with them and quit (was it over Leatherheads or maybe Ides of March?) and my very dim recall is that it had some effect on future writing credits.  But I could very well have it all wrong!

I think George quit around Leatherheads time but he and Grant still got an Oscar nomination for the IoM screenplay.
My guess would be that IMDb got it wrong and George will get his credits eventually.

The way that imdb would get it wrong is if they omitted George's name in the writing credits from the project forms submitted to them. imdb doesn't generate project info on its own; a responsible person associated with the movie fills out a multi-page form and submits it. Errors do happen, but rarely with high-profile projects and stars.

I can guarantee you that every major player has someone on payroll who monitors imdb as part of their job. If there is a mistake, it would be caught quickly. If the credits have been there a while, they're probably correct.