A couple days ago, we reported that 12 Years a Slave director Steve McQueen would be doing a film based on the life of activist Paul Robeson. It sounded right up McQueen’s alley: It’s a passion project he now has the clout to push forward, it’s about an activist (like his debut feature Hunger), and it deals with racial conflict in America. McQueen had even done an art instillation in 2012, End Credits, dedicated to Robeson. It all made sense.
Here’s what makes somewhat less sense: McQueen’s next movie is a heist thriller. Hit the jump for more.
According to Variety, McQueen will reteam with New Regency to write, direct, and produce a heist thriller based on the 1980s British TV series, Widows. Per Variety, the story “begins when four armed robbers are killed during a robbery and their surviving widows come together to try to finish the failed job.” That is a far cry from McQueen’s other films.
Not that I’m opposed to him making this kind of movie, which sounds far more mainstream than Hunger, Shame, 12 Years a Slave, and a biopic about Paul Robeson. McQueen is an amazing director, and I’m up for seeing whatever he does. It’s just an unexpected choice. Hopefully, we’ll learn more about his take on the material soon.
The film and TV series will diverge dramatically. McQueen's feature, which reunites him with 12 Years producer and financier New Regency, won't be called Widows and will be set in a modern-day American city, not London.
"Steve was interested in doing his own version of a gangster film," New Regency president and CEO Brad Weston tells THR. "It felt fresh to him to combine a contemporary, hard-hitting, very grounded gangster movie with four strong female characters. We loved it because that's who Steve is. He sees things differently."
But Widows' remake rights were owned by Disney — not an obvious destination for a McQueen film. In fact, the edgy director was determined to make his next movie with New Regency (Weston was an early champion of 12 Years, which earned $188 million worldwide).
New Regency has closed a deal with Disney for Widows (Disney's ABC mounted a version in 2002 with Mercedes Ruehl and Brooke Shields), which freed up the project for McQueen. The plan is to be in preproduction by year's end. The King's Speech's Iain Canning and Emile Sherman will produce with McQueen.
Adds Weston, "This project gives him the commercial jumping-off point, but then allows him to twist it into a Steve McQueen film."
