Stephen Fry Says He's Writing Jackson's 'Dambusters'

Peter Jackson can still do anything he wants. He's loaded, his movies have earned everyone involved a ton of money, and if The Lovely Bones excels, he'll have even blancher carte or something. With Tintin and The Hobbit expecting big things, too, well...you can do the math. But Jackson has his eye on another project, one that's been mentioned for some time, and it appears that it might have his full attention after he makes it through the next couple of years. Ain't It Cool News heard that Stephen Fry (V for Vendetta) has confirmed he's begun work on the script for the remake of The Dam Busters, saying that Jackson is so involved already that he has commissioned the construction of Lancaster bomber airplanes in his native New Zealand so filming can begin whenever Jackson's ready. AICN wonders if Jackson will actually direct instead of just shepherding the project as a producer, but if he's not directing any Hobbit stuff and Tintin is animated...wouldn't it make sense for Jackson to not vanish as one of the top spectacle directors in the world for half a decade? Let's assume for the moment that The Lovely Bones isn't all that great. Would it make sense in that case for Jackson to only make Tintin movies? Probably not. And if Lovely Bones is great, it actually reinforces why a quick follow-up makes sense for Jackson. The curious thing is that Stephen Fry might be writing it (the remake shortens the name to Dambusters, apparently). He's a very talented guy, best known for his comedy, but I don't see the reference point between Fry and Jackson, other than mutual admiration perhaps, and for a movie like this, a remake of a 1950s action film set during WWII, Fry seems a fairly left-of-center choice. And we all know how much Jackson prefers to work on his own scripts with Phillipa Boyens and his wife, Fran Walsh. But we do know Jackson's been putting this project together behind the scenes, so maybe there's something to it. As odd a fit as might seem, it would be even stranger if Fry just pulled that information out of thin air.

Comments

[knives]

Are they still going to call the dog Nigger?

[Get The Big Picture]

My guess is no.

[Gibson]

Rumour is that the dog will be called "Nigsy" which apparently was one of the names he was called by Gibson