With 21 books in John D. McDonald’s series, 20th Century Fox has film franchise aspirations for the Travis McGee character at the heart of their attempts to adapt The Deep Blue Good-By. But try as it might, the studio has found the project stubbornly lingering in development hell despite the interest of Leonardo DiCaprio as producer and potential star. There appears to be light at the end of the tunnel, however, with news that Christian Bale is in early talks to tackle the role instead.
According to Variety, Bale has made no formal deal yet, but is about to get an offer to star and has tentatively agreed to take the part. Assuming it all works out, he’ll be playing charismatic rogue McGee, a Floridian sleuth and “salvage consultant” who is always getting into deeper water than he intends with dangerous women and very bad men.
Fox has James Mangold saddling up to direct an adaptation of the first McGee mystery, The Deep Blue Good-By, which has most recently seen scripting work courtesy of Dennis Lehane. Let’s see whether this new wrinkle means McGee finally hits our screens.
Bale, meanwhile, will next show up in Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods And Kings, due out on December 16. He’s also got roles in Terrence Malick’s Knight Of Cups and another, still untitled Malick film.