So this weekend was the Chilmark Race at Martha’s Vineyard, where I was convinced by Jake Gyllenhaal, who also has a house on the Island, to compete in the front group who compete to do six-minute miles. ...
So in spite of being such a dilettante runner, I was pretty proud at first because I did manage to leave Jake in the dust at the beginning. Apparently, that had less to do with my running powers and more to do with the fact that someone ran into the back of his shoe and he ran right out of it. It actually went flying over us. I like to think of it as me making him eat my dust. But he did catch up and pass me.
You can see Doug Liman just behind Jake in the starting line.
Doug also blogged this week about the Untitled Moon Project, which even he acknowledges needs a real name. Sounds like it will be his next movie and that he and Jake have been working on it:
And it now looks like my Untitled Moon Project (it really needs a title) is next, because Simon Kinberg (my partner from Mr. and Mrs. Smith) just did some amazing work on it.
Every draft of the script has been really exciting and really solid. The movie is about a private expedition to the Moon — present day. Not science fiction. So real, in fact, that I debated spending $100 million to make the movie or $100 million to really go to the Moon and just shoot a documentary there. The heroes of my film steal all the old Apollo parts to rebuild Apollo 18, which was canceled in 1972 before it launched. ...
The other thing that I think Simon is nailing is an amazing character not only for Jake Gyllenhaal to play but also for the other lead to play — an amazing female character — as well as a great love story. Jake’s been a lot like Matt Damon was in The Bourne Identity — these are actors who are fiercely committed to doing something original, not derivative — off the beaten path. And we’re writing Moon for Jake’s voice. That part of the process has been sitting in rooms with him, riffing out dialogue, and figuring out not only what would be the best character for the movie but who the best character is for Jake for this movie. So from a character standpoint the script took a tremendous leap forward.
I think he means that Jake has been working on it with them. In any case, it's great to hear that they are really paying attention to character.
No timeline for the project. We'll have to keep an eye on Liman's blog for more details.
In other Jake movie news, IFC places Nailed on its list of movies waiting to see the light of day. I really hope we get to see it at some point!
And just because:
(Photos courtesy of Martha's Vineyard Gazette and Boston.com.)
