A 6.23 interview with Clint Eastwood in the Carmel Pine Cone, written by Paul Miller, says that Eastwood’s next film, The 15:17 to Paris, will begin filming in August and will “probably be released later this year.” Which indicates a likely December release date. So we may have an Eastwood film in the 2017 Oscar derby, and one sure to be embraced by the same red-state audiences who went apeshit over American Sniper.
Based on “The 15:17 to Paris: The True Story of a Terrorist, a Train, and Three American Heroes,” a 2016 book by Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos, Spencer Stone and Jeffrey E. Stern, which recounts a true-life episode in which three young guys, one of them a U.S. Air Force enlisted man, stopped an armed terrorist from murdering God-knows-how-many-passengers aboard a Brussels-to-Paris train.
The incident happened in August 2015 — the book popped twelve months later.
Miller excerpt: “At his office on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, Eastwood is busy these days refining the shooting schedule, while his casting directors are choosing the actors, costumers are picking the outfits, and set designers are planning the shots — all routine tasks for a major Hollywood picture.
“But the film, The 15:17 to Paris, which Eastwood says will probably be released later this year, has a story that promises to be unprecedented in its heart-stopping impact, yet which carries a timeless message of people putting their lives on the line to protect others.
“In January, after negotiations over the book were completed, a writer was brought in to develop the screenplay, and the production process got into full swing. The budget for the film will [cost] $30 million to $40 million, according to Eastwood, with photography getting underway in August — two years after the unforgettable events that happened to three normal guys on a perfectly normal European vacation.”
I have a problem with the dopey-sounding title. First of all is the use of “The” — completely unnecessary. Delmer Daves‘ 3:10 to Yuma (’57) and James Mangold‘s 2007 remake, both based on a 1953 Elmore Leonard short story, didn’t see the need. Secondly, only military people use military time — everyone else uses the common colloquial. 15:17 = 3:17 pm in the afternoon. The title — hello? — should be 3:17 to Paris. Keep it straight, simple.
