‘Incendies’ Director Denis Villeneuve Helming ‘Prisoners’ | /Film

The history of the development of the filmPrisonersis convoluted. Suffice to say that theAaron Guzikowskiscript hit the Black List in 2009, wasbriefly setto be a Bryan Singer film with Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, before those two actors dropped out and itbrieflybecame an Antoine Fuqua and Hugh Jackman movie.

But that version never happened, either. Leonardo DiCaprioalmostlooked like he was going to star, but eventually it was back to square one and a number of other possible directors were floated. Now, with his filmIncendiesopening in the US this weekend,Denis Villeneuveis looking like the newPrisonersdirector.

TheLA Timessays he’s signed to direct the vigilante thriller for Warner Bros., with a new cast being planned and a fall shoot tentatively scheduled.

So why is Prisoners still very much a going concern after kicking around for a couple of years with a variety of creative teams? The script is about” a working-class Boston father whose young daughter is kidnapped, along with her friend. Frustrated by a local detective’s handling of the case, the father takes as a hostage the man he believes committed the crimes.” ThinkMystic RiverandThe Silence of the Lambsas a starter; it isn’t the most subtle script, but it is easy to see how the right team might use it to create a film that nicely straddles the line between critical darling and audience favorite.

If Denis Villeneuve does direct, it would be his first English-language film, and frankly this is probably a better scenario than having a high-profile director and AAA cast. He probably won’t pull actors on the visibility level of Leonardo DiCaprio, but he shouldn’t have any trouble assembling a very capable cast that can take advantage of the material.

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