Sometimes projects with the most potential are the ones that seem to sit on the shelf the longest, having a hard time getting off the ground for one reason or another. The Dreamworks film Motorcade is one such example of a film that sounds incredible on paper, yet has had a hard time getting off the ground. Motorcade revolves around a disgraced Secret Service agent who happens to get involved in trying to stop a terrorist attack on the Presidential motorcade as it goes through Los Angeles, or New York City, depending on which version of the script is used. The film has been kicking around for a long, long time, with the last update coming in 2009, when Ryan Reynolds and Tom Cruise were circling to star in the film.
Now, it seems Dreamworks is ready to revive the project once again, but this time with Joe Carnahan behind the wheel of it. Variety was the first to break the news that Carnahan has signed on to write and direct the film. There’s no release year set for the film yet, but there’s a good chance this could be Carnahan’s next film, which gets me incredibly excited.
Carnahan has had a tough time navigating the Hollywood system as of late. His last film, the absolutely fantastic Stretch, sat on the shelf for sometime, until it was quietly released on VOD without much fanfare. His chance at a franchise in Fox’s The A-Team didn’t really take off either, which is really unfortunate, because the film was something very special, and I can only imagine where he would have taken the characters next. Those two projects both deserved better, as did Carnahan himself. But it’s not not say he hasn’t made some excellent films, as both The Grey and Smokin’ Aces show exactly what he’s capable of, and it honestly perplexes me that many liked the latter two films, but didn’t check out The A-Team or Stretch.
All those films show the sort of raw intensity, fun, and excitement that Carnahan brings to his film, and something like Motorcade is exactly the kind of film that will let him showcase that to a bigger audience. This premise is intriguing, and it could be fun to see how he plays with the premise of an attack on the motorcade itself, and how he handles it. It could be the best of films like Die Hard and Speed, with very contained action to one place, with all the intensity of In the Line of Fire and Taken. This can really play to Carnahan’s strength of action mixed with great character work, and I think this could be something really, really special.
It’ll be interesting to see how this film comes together, and who he’ll get to be in the film. With Carnahan most recently using Chris Pine in Stretch, and having such a great working relationship with Liam Neeson, I would love to see him try to wrangle the two of them for this. Pine deserves a big action franchise, and it wouldn’t be the first time that Neeson flirted with the idea of playing the President of the United States, and I think it could be a fun way to take this film.