After Casino Royale Martin Campbell is clearly back in demand, with the recently announced Unstoppable (read all about that genius idea here) and now the news that he will direct the English-language remake of French cop thriller 36.
The original film (sometimes titled "36 Quai des Orfevres", an address that's basically the French Scotland Yard) starred Gerard Depardieu and Daniel Auteuil as two detectives competing to solve a series of armoured car robberies, with the winner in line for a promotion. However, things don't turn out quite that simple as the rivalry between the pair turns vicious and the line between cops and robbers becomes somewhat smudged.
Robert De Niro is producing and had been attached to star, but the English screenplay (by Dean Georgaris) is now being rewritten by Richard Price (Freedomland, Mad Dog & Glory), with the detectives now set to be in their 30s. Which is a shame, really, cause something along the lines of a De Niro-Pacino head-to-head would be far more interesting than a The Departed wannabe.
In any case, the important thing is that this effort, good a concept as it is, doesn't take precedence over the awesomely high-concept Unstoppable, which is next on Campbell's schedule and which we're saying will be the best train-set movie since Under Siege 2.