Kenner, Del Toro gain 'Basic' instinct
Lensing to begin in March to avoid anticipated strikes
"Basic" concerns a DEA agent who must investigate the disappearance of a legendary Army ranger drill instructor and several of his cadets during a training exercise gone severely awry. Lee Tamahori ("The Edge" and Par's upcoming "Along Came a Spider") is helming.
Keener, who gained prominence for her role in Spike Jonze's pic "Being John Malkovich," will next appear opposite Al Pacino in Andrew Niccol's "Simone" for New Line Cinema. She then segues into Good Machine's untitled Nicole Holofcener project with Brenda Blethyn and then to "Basic" this spring.
Del Toro most recently toplined Artisan's "The Way of the Gun" with Ryan Phillippe for helmer Christopher McQuarrie, and he is already generating Oscar buzz for his work in Steven Soderbergh's upcoming pic "Traffic" at Fox Searchlight.
Lensing on "Basic" is expected to begin in March in an effort to beat the anticipated Writer's Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild strikes, expected to commence on May 1 and July 1, respectively.
Script for "Basic" is being developed further by its author, James Vanderbilt, and by Tamahori. Pic will be shot on location in Costa Rica and Panama.
"Basic" is the first movie to be produced with the Phoenix-based Orbit Entertainment Group, a commercial producer with which Phoenix inked a three-year, first-look production deal in January. Orbit principals Dror Soref and Lee Nelson will produce. Phoenix Pictures director of development Brad Fischer brought the project into the company and will supervise its production.
Keener is repped by the Gersh Agency; Del Toro is repped by IFA Talent Agency's Ilene Feldman and managed by Artists Management Group; Vanderbilt is repped by Endeavor and managed by Mikkel Bondesen; Tamahori is repped by ICM and managed by Geyer Kosinski and Nick Wechsler at Industry Entertainment.
