Clive Owen has one of those faces that can easily cope with bitter, resentful and hard-fought detectives. He managed to convey the right attitude in Sin City, so it seems a natural fit for him to be considering starring as Raymond Chandler’s most famous private eye.
It’s all part of a deal being hashed out by Universal that would see the studio nabbing the rights to a set of Chandler’s most famous noir titles including The Big Sleep and Farewell My Lovely. Owen has negotiated an executive producer’s credit on whichever title they decide to adapt, though he is definitely planning to star.
Right now, it’s all still in the planning stages as the studio’s trying to lock down a writer and a director, so there’s not a word of script even written. But when and, given this is Hollywood, if the cameras eventually crank, the plan will be to maintain the 1940s LA feel of the original books, and the Marlowe character will apparently still be a hard-drinking, sarcastic git. Yeah, we breathed a sigh of relief too – no one wants a Chandler character that munches celery and does yoga…
