Liam Neeson (‘Silence,’ ‘A Monster Calls,’ ‘Taken’) has signed on to headline a new film centred on author Raymond Chandler’s legendary tough as nails private detective Philip Marlow.
Per Variety, the drama is set in early 1950s, where Marlowe is as restless and lonely as ever, and business is a little slow. That is until a beautiful blonde client comes in and asks Marlowe to find her ex-lover. He soon comes to find out that the ex-lover’s disappearance is just a part of bigger mystery and soon has Marlowe wrapped up with one of the more powerful families in Bay Cities who are willing to go to any length’s to protect their fortune.
William Monahan (‘The Departed,’ ‘Edge of Darkness,’ ‘The Gambler’) is attached to shape the script, based on the book ‘The Black-Eyed Blonde’ by Benjamin Black. Nickel City Pictures and Gary Levinson will produce.
“It’s hard to tell who has the more of a lion’s heart and soul, Philip Marlowe or Liam Neeson,” Monahan told Variety. “I hope I’ve done the both of them and a picture I could not anticipate more some service.”
Chandler’s hardboiled detective has made it to the big screen numerous times over the years, with the likes of James Garner, Elliott Gould, and Robert Mitchum portraying the iconic fictional figure, but Humphrey Bogart immortalized the character, playing Marlowe in Howard Hawks’ 1946 film noir ‘The Big Sleep.’