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Before Matt Damon was The Talented Mr. Ripley, there was Alain Delon #book2movies

Will Christian Bale bail on The Deep Blue Good-by too?


The last we heard definitively, Leonardo DiCaprio had decided to disembark as Travis McGee in the adaptation of John D. MacDonald's The Deep Blue Good-by. The so-called 'salvage consultant' and resident of the Busted Flush houseboat was the big man onboard for the 21 colorful Travis McGee novels, and Fox is hoping to create a franchise ala the Bourne series out of them. While DiCaprio is still onboard, as it were, as producer, a lot of people on the forums are mighty glad to see him go. Not big enough, they complain. Really? Leo is 6ft, tall enough I think to carry off McGee's 6'4" stature, but that boat has sailed so it's time for me to move on. 


Word is Christian Bale was circling the Dennis Lehane script with James Mangold directing but he hasn't said yes or no yet because, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox wants him to agree to the sequels (not all 21 books, surely!) and he's not keen to do that. So they're sort of at a standstill with Bale off to do the Steve Jobs movie that Aaron Sorkin penned. Will he bail completely on the project, or return when he wraps the Jobs job?
Christian Bale and Natalie Portman/Knight of Cups

 I'm just not that invested in the 'should he go, or should he stay' question where he's concerned. While I love Bale as an actor, he's not my perfect Travis. If I can't have Leo, I'll take McConaughey for starters. In my previous The Deep Blue Good-by post I suggested Chris Hemsworth but I think I was just blinded by his beauty in Rush. How about you? Who would you cast as the guy who loafs around on the Busted Flush until he runs out of cashola, then gets busy finding stuff that needs to be found for a mere 50% finders fee?

Anyway, thought you'd like to know there's a completed The Deep Blue Good-by script ready and waiting for the right guy to say yes to. As it stands right now the studio is hankering for Christian Bale, in the meantime Bale is off to do the Steve Jobs picture before he commits (or doesn't) to being Travis. I picked up a copy of The Deep Blue Good-by from the biblioteca today, maybe I'll have some bright ideas when I've finished re-reading the book that started it all. How about you? Any thoughts?