After dominating the world with the comedic stylings of three hungover delinquents, Todd Phillips is making the wise decision to transition into serious drama. It makes sense. There’s a whisper thin line between laughs and abject sorrow, especially the kind of laughs that Phillips is used to eliciting, and he’s the kind of storyteller that can almost assuredly handle both with equal skill. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Phillips is about to take over the seat for The Gambler from a huge name in filmmaking.
Martin Scorsese was previously planning on directing from a William Monahan script (which is, you know, not a bad partnership), but now Scorsese is out and Phillips is in talks with Paramount to craft a remake of the 1974 Karel Reisz movie starring James Caan as a literature professor who demolishes his own life with a gambling addiction.
Obviously, obsessed men with behavioral problems fit right into Phillips’ wheelhouse, but the question is how he’ll work Mr. Creepy into the script. If the Monahan screenplay is still in play, Phillips may have just landed in a hell of a position to surprise a lot of people. Paramount would be wise to draw up the paperwork.