When the news hit that Jim Sheridan, the director of such Oscar nominated films as IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER and MY LEFT FOOT, was headed to the Boston to make a movie based on "Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob," the best-selling book by former Globe reporter Dick Lehr and editor Gerard O'Neill, I personally had mixed feelings. I'm sure the same is true of my writing partner Randy.
Sheridan has finished the script with writing partner Nye Heron, and they intend to begin shooting in South Boston this spring. The whole thing is coming together, and yet, the story of WhiteyBulger was supposed to be our story. When Randy and I formed the Script Sages in 2001, the story of the Irish mob and how they got in bed with the FBI was one that we knew well from local Boston lore (it was also, incidentally, not all that well-known at that time outside of Boston). I'd spent part of my youth in Dorchester in the shadow of South Boston. We'd read all the press...absorbed all the stories. We'd read Lehr's and O'Neill's work on the pages of The Boston Globe and read "Black Mass".
At the time we wrote our spec script CASTLE ISLAND - which got its title from the famous landmark on the Atlantic coast where Whitey and his associates would conduct business - there was a good deal of interest in it. It placed in at least one contest. We discovered another writer who'd optioned a screenplay about Whitey's Jewish bookie, Chico Krantz, to Martin Scorcese. We worked with a very reputable producer who'd been having a heck of a run at HBO. We were getting a head of steam on the project. And then, it fizzled.
Since that time, a spate of films and TV shows have come out to steal any thunder the project once had: IRISH EYES, BROTHERHOOD, THE DEPARTED. Whitey Bulger has become a household name. In short, our project - while a wonderful writing sample - is dead in the water.
I still think it's the best thing we've written and would make the most compelling movie about Whitey ever. But, CASTLE ISLAND, it seems at this point is more likely to be the one that got away.
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2 comments:
Our experience working on (and trying to sell) Castle Island has also been instructive.
Many people will tell you to write what you know and to write what moves you. This is true, and it's why we tackled this project.
But one should also be cautious about wading into waters where many other fish are swimming.
Our current spec, to our knowledge, is about a man largely unknown to most folks so we've got the market cornered in that sense. But everyone who ever waved hello to Whitey has a screenplay about him. Pick and choose your projects carefully is the advice- no matter how much you love the topic.
Castle Island is still a great writing sample for us, so we'll always have that. Still, it's bittersweet to see this story told. Bitter because it's not ours, but sweet because "Black Mass" is the definitive work on the topic and Sheridan surely one of the best who could handle it.
We will eagerly follow the film's progress.
Loved this entry. With Castle Island you intuited an upcoming trend (micro-trend)... Perhaps there is still hope for your script.
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