Saturday
02Aug2008
Pierce Brosnan's Latest 'Affair'
Saturday, August 2, 2008 at 5:14PM 
You know how actors will take a big movie so they can
afford the meager payday of a really good role in an independent drama? I think
Pierce Brosnan may have taken a big day to
promote another big payday.
If you've seen the former Bond in
Mamma Mia!, you know how terrible he is. It's
the worst performance in his career over the past 15 years, probably. Horribly
out of place, visibly uncomfortable, and unable to carry a tune, Brosnan just
should have never been in the musical in the first place.
But now it all starts to make sense.
You see, Brosnan is using interviews for Mamma Mia!
to his advantage. Having sat in on quite of few of these roundtable interviews
in the past, I can say with a certain amount of credibility that no matter who
the star is, they will be asked "So what are you working on next?" during their
crowded press day. And I have a hunch Brosnan may have been banking on it.
Why? Because he's telling
USA Today, a paper with a pretty sizable
circulation, that what he's working on next is a sequel to
The Thomas Crown Affair. If you follow Brosnan
at all, that's not big news in and of itself. Nor is the year-old casting rumor
that
Rene Russo would be replaced by
Angelina Jolie (again, that's only a rumor).
But I hadn't heard word one about The Thomas Crown
Affair 2 in quite a while...until Brosnan started doing Mamma Mia!
press. And let's be honest, you're not going to ask him too many questions about
his singing other than maybe, "Why, God, why?"
The new film, according to Brosnan will borrow from the
script of 1964's
Topkapi, a heist movie set in Istanbul. Instead
of paintings, Crown will now be after a rare diamond. Director
Paul Verhoeven is attached, a move Brosnan says
makes sense because, "He does sexy well."
Of course, Brosnan is still a sex symbol at 55, but if
he were to hold his own with Angelina Jolie, he'd have to improve the scenery,
so to speak. "I will have to go to the gym to get rid of my Mamma Mia!
middle," he jokes.
On the flipside,
The Mirror reports that Jolie has been ordered
to put on weight for the role. "Ideally they want Angelina to put on two stone
for the role," reveals a source.
"It is going to be very physically demanding, which is
why they want her to carry the extra weight. They don't want a reprise of what
happened with Wanted, where she was fainting and they had to take her
costumes in."
That's quite an order to give someone you don't actually
have a contract with, so maybe there's more to this story than we know. And two
stone is close to 30 pounds, so I guess that baby weight wouldn't be going too
far.
The film could be in theaters next year, according to
Brosnan, although I think that's a pretty optimistic schedule unless it races
into production by the end of this year, with or without Jolie.
Reader Comments (12)
I'd rather go to the Las Vegas public library screening of the original TCA with the man himself, Steve Friggan' McQueen.
There are no windmills in Brosnan's mind, just popcorn kernals.
Well, see, I didn't have a problem with the remake. It's not like they remade The Great Escape or anything. Or Bullitt. The original is good, but it was ripe for a remake, and I think they did a pretty good job.
As for this sequel, I don't know what it will accomplish. Nothing, probably. But , Christ, nobody went to see The Matador and that's brilliant, so what are you gonna do?
Matador or not, the problem is that Brosnan assumed, perhaps wrongly, that people would still care about him after Bond went away.
Timothy Dalton, Roger Moore and George Lazenby are big box office draws still too, right?
I liked The Thomas Crown re-make as well, but that's probably because Rene Russo was so yummy. What's the acronym about mom's I'd like...to...
It's on the tip of my tonngue...
What? Moms i'd like to bake cookies for?
Yes. That's it. Tollhouse cookies.
Are you out of your mind-everyone Thought he was fabulous in Mama Mia- Everyone you talk to loves it.
People clapped when he sang- Give the guy a break- so what if he was not james Bond in the movie.
He was fantastic- Open your mind to another genre.
'Give the man a break' is right! Benny Andersson of Abba says his singing is good/great, and Judy Craymer the producer says he sings "brilliantly." He is no musical miracle, but he worked hard to get the songs down and carries a tune better than most. Regarding TCA2, why would it make sense to promote movies from his one film company BEFORE Mammia Mia! came out? Seems like he is in a great position now to promote his other movies, but I doubt that this was the primary reason for taking the Mamma Mia! job.
I have just read that they are making The Thomas Crown affair 2. I must say I LOVED the first movie and actually thought it was superior to the original. It is a film that I could watch again and again as it it the chemistry and glue of the relationship between Rene Russo' character with Crown that make it watchable over and over. It is rare to see a depiction of a sexy, affluent woman who is also incredibly intelligent, done extremely well by Russo, on screen. Also because the characters were of a similar age/experience it made them a good match. I was really disappointed to see that Russo is not included in the new version as it would be seeing how this relationship would develop, would really make me go and see the sequel.
Sorry for the rant, I just really loved the movie and thought there would be integrity to developing the story. Shame.
I am also disappointed that Rene Russo is not going to be in TCA 2....What is he thinking.
Shame on him
I agree with Peter. Give Angelina a break and let her stay home with the kids. She's overdone. Russo was the best.
Sounds like some of you gentlemen might be just a tad jealous!! I thought Mamma Mia was just terrific!! Saw it 3 times & can't wait for the DVD to come out. Sing??? Who cares!!! Just a chance to look at him is enough for me!! I did think he did a great job. Everytime I'm in my car Mamma Mia is the CD that's on!! Loved "Thomas Crown Affair", too. I'm sorry to see Rene Rousso replaced!!
I thought she was as hot as he was!! They made a very "chemical" pair!!!
pierce is till as sexy as he ever was - maybe actually better. there were times he looked uncomfortable with his sexiness when filming remington steele. As thomas crown he fulfilled the same character but was much more comfortable and the chemistry with Pierce and Rene Russo was outstanding! Angelina Jolie isn't sexy, unless you count artificially pumped up lips! we've seen enought of her and Brad to last several lifetimes. We've seen MORE THAN ENOUGH of her and really don't want to see any more!!!