Inside Move: Ford puts 'Walk' on path
Thesp gives notes, may topline
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Even though there is no director, Ford's notes have given hope to the studio and producers that Ford will come aboard and play the film's protagonist, Matthew Scudder, an alcoholic ex-cop private eye. In the novel, Scudder tries to help a drug kingpin ransom his kidnapped wife. When she turns up butchered, the private eye devotes himself to hunting down the killers, in his belief that even drug dealers deserve justice.
If Ford's reps, Patricia McQueeney and UTA, actually make a deal, it would be for Ford to topline the film sometime in the fall, after he completes the Shelton film.
But just because he takes an interest in shaping a film for the better doesn't automatically mean Ford will topline it. The actor, who next appears in "K-19: The Widowmaker," gave detailed notes to scribe Steve Gaghan to improve the drug czar role he considered playing in "Traffic." Though Ford ultimately passed, the changes made on his behalf hooked Michael Douglas for the role. Gaghan won a scripting Oscar and the film was a best picture nominee.
