Movies

Marc Forster Sticks With Spies, Has Plans for The Chancellor Manuscript

By  · Published on January 15th, 2010

Marc Forster must have developed a taste for action, adrenaline, and chase scenes during his stint directing the latest James Bond film, Quantum of Solace… he’s apparently signed on to direct an adaptation of the Robert Ludlum novel, The Chancellor Manuscript. Of course, he’ll be petitioning to change the title to Palimpsest of Justice.

The book follows a novelist in Washington, DC whose latest thriller hints at a decades old conspiracy among the city’s elite players. His plot hits too close to home for some high level power brokers, and soon the author is embroiled in a deadly game of cat and mouse with a secret organization who believes he knows too much about an actual conspiracy. Ludlum should be ashamed of himself, stealing from John Grisham’s “The Pelican Brief” fifteen years before it was even released.

Per Variety, the film is being developed as a star vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio and is being adapted by relative newcomer Peter O’Brien.

I’m one of the few who actually liked Quantum of Solace quite a bit. It helps to view it as both a coda to Casino Royale and an introduction to a grander story in the Bond universe. Plus, I got a thing for Olga Kurylenko… The Chancellor Manuscript is just one of a handful of Ludlum books in various stages of pre-production thanks to the runaway (and much deserved) success of Matt Damon’s Bourne trilogy. Variety still lists The Matarese Circle as having David Cronenberg, Tom Cruise, and Denzel Washington attached (although earlier reports have that project on hold), and Universal is apparently prepping a movie of “The Sigma Protocol” as well.

Have you read the book? Are you looking forward to the movie?

Rob Hunter has been writing for Film School Rejects since before you were born, which is weird seeing as he's so damn young. He's our Chief Film Critic and Associate Editor and lists 'Broadcast News' as his favorite film of all time. Feel free to say hi if you see him on Twitter @FakeRobHunter.