Rifkin, Willis fast-tracking a pair of pics
Thesp to star in 'Hostage'; MGM readies 'Believers'
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First up is a deal with Bob Yari and Mark Gordon's Stratus Film Co. to adapt the Robert Crais novel "Hostage" as a starring project for Willis. Notably, Stratus is guaranteeing the pic's budget despite it lacking domestic distribution.
"Hostage" -- first set up at MGM and, most recently, at Revolution Studios -- will be helmed by Florent Siri ("The Nest") and produced by Cheyenne along with Stratus principals Bob Yari and Mark Gordon.
Gordon, in a statement, said the deal "typifies a Stratus tentpole movie" and added that the shingle intends "to seek out and continue to make these star-driven action films in the future."
Pic tells the story of a LAPD hostage negotiator (Willis) who withdraws to the countryside to become chief of a two-man police department after a standoff ends bloodily. But instead of finding peace in the small town he finds himself embroiled negotiations to save his kidnapped wife and daughter.
Pic will begin pre-production immediately and is set to go before cameras in January.
Negotiations had been ongoing with Par-based Lakeshore to finance the picture, but Par could not come to terms with Cheyenne on its choice of director, insiders said.
The other Cheyenne production, "True Believers," is moving forward quickly at MGM, with the studio making a pay-or-play offer to Japanese horror helmer Hideo Nakata ("Ringu"), and readying an offer for Mark Wahlberg to topline.
A remake of Nakata's Japanese-language "Chaos" has been set up for a remake at U, and his "Dark Water" is in development at Bill Mechanic's Disney-based Pandemonium shingle, but "True Believers" would the helmer's first English-lingo pic.
