First Trailer for 'London Boulevard'

We haven't heard much about The Departed screenwriter William Monahan's directorial debut London Boulevard.  That's a little weird considering it stars Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley and has an Oscar winner behind it.  The film has yet to hit the festival circuit, but other than the image above, this trailer is the first anyone has seen of the film.  So why is the studio keeping this little gem hidden?  Probably because they don't know how to market it.

Hit the jump to see what I mean.

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Wahlberg, Monahan Contemplate 'Departed' Sequel

Although Martin Scorsese has never made a sequel, William Monahan and now Mark Wahlberg both say The Departed will have a spin-off, which Beantown (via Screenrant) says might arrive in two years. Of course, the Oscar winner is based on Infernal Affairs, a foreign film (that's probably better than The Departed, actually) and it had a two additional movies, so that would mean there's room to grow here, as well.

Except that Monahan says the prequel and sequel to Affairs don't have "anything I could use" to expand the story he created for the Boston-based cops-and-gangsters flick. "I'm not criticizing [Infernal Affairs 2 and 3], I'm saying that The Departed now points in its own direction," Monahan clarified. Wahlberg adds, “They told me they wanted to try to do it and I said, ‘Well, I enjoyed playing the character.’ I mean, this guy [Dignam] doesn’t give a shit about anything. He doesn’t care what anyone thinks. He just does what he does, he does it the way he wants to do it. And I love that."

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First Look: William Monahan's 'London Boulevard'

From this angle, doesn't Colin Farrell look a bit like Brad Pitt? It's the first shot of the Irishman in London Boulevard, the directorial debut of The Departed screenwriter William Monahan.

I've not read Ken Bruen's novel, so all I really know about this flick is that Farrell plays a London criminal recently released from prison who gets romantically involved with a reclusive actress, played by Keira Knightley (who's in the background in the shot above). Because of Monahan's reputation (and very possibly the quality of this script), he's been able to attract both of those stars plus Ray Winston, Anna Friel, and David Thewlis. I like it already.

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New 'Edge of Darkness' Commercial and UK Banner

Mel Gibson's first starring role in a movie since Signs is Edge of Darkness, which hits theaters in a few weeks. Here's a brand new UK banner for the film from IMP Awards, and we've got the latest TV spot, too.

Click to Enlarge Pretty basic design, but it's effective enough. What are you selling, really? Mel Gibson and a gun to most people, I'd bet. Actually, in the UK that might be a little different, because this film is a remake of a BBC miniseries from the 1990s, also directed by Martin Campbell. There is also the very real consideration that audiences just don't want to see Gibson anymore, thanks to a decade in the news primarily for the wrong reasons. I don't think we'll see that outcome, but the Lethal Weapon days are probably well behind him. Still, the film comes from solid source material, has a great writer (William Monahan), an established action director, and a movie star who also happens to be a good actor to boot. So, unless some combination of those influences just isn't up to snuff, I don't see how this could be really, really bad. I think the studio is hoping it does what Taken accomplished last year, but that might be a lot of wishful thinking.

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Gibson, DiCaprio to Make a Viking Epic

Mel Gibson has a couple new projects in the works. First, Production Weekly Tweeted this morning that he'll star in How I Spent My Summer Vacation for director Adrian Grunberg. I didn't expect Mad Mel to go back in front of the camera so soon, especially since he openly expressed how acting for the first time in years (in next spring's Edge of Darkness) wasn't all that satisfying.

The other news, from Variety, is bigger and potentially better: Gibson will direct Leonardo DiCaprio in an upcoming period piece. Given Mel's history with directing movies set in the distant past (Braveheart, Passion of the Christ, and Apocalypto were all good films, and each one was different), this seems like a great pairing. Throw in writer william Monahan, and it's no wonder producer Graham King said, "This will be an awe-inspiring story, created with some of the industry's finest cinematic talent, and I am just over the moon to be making this film with Mel, Leo and Bill." Here's the catch: It's a Viking movie. Wha?

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