Julianne Moore wants in on Philip K Dick thriller Next

Oooh, sexy. I have a rather large soft spot for Julianne Moore, there’s just something about her, (and it’s nowt to do with being born on the same day but 10 years earlier!) and with John stealing all the other leading ladies, I have to look somewhere where his oats have not yet reached! Anyway…

I was a bit miffed to read this story in the BBC Film news that seems to slate a new movie project for now good reason, well, maybe a few, but let’s look at the evidence and you decide.

They wade straight in with…

We don’t need to borrow Cage’s crystal ball to guess that this Minority Report rip off is going to be as forgettable as Moore’s last sci-fi outing, The Forgotten.

…as soon as they’ve discussed the film itself. Apparently she is after the role of an FBI Agent in the latest Philip K. Dick adaptation called Next, taken from his book The Golden Man. Nicholas Cage is slated to produce as well as star in the main role as a man who can tell his own future and continually changes it to suit. He is soon tracked by the FBI who want to use him to alert them to terrorist threats, Moore wants to play that FBI Agent.

Now, to me that sounds pretty good, and John’s recent comments about Cage are words which I agree with, so they must be right. He is a good actor and carries with him a gravitas that works well on the screen, he’s just been in some bad roles and roles which really aren’t suited to him. Look at 8mm for one of his better roles, I really liked him in that movie, a perfect role for him.

Screenwriting duties have been passed to Gary Goldman, responsible for only a few screenplays including Navy SEALS, the quite enjoyable Total Recall and the fantastic Big Trouble in Little China.

Directing is Lee Tamahori who has some more interesting titles behind him with Die Another Day, Along Came a Spider and xXx: State of the Union on the way.

Now, I don’t know about you but that doesn’t instantly spell disaster for the movie does it? Okay, so the resume of Tamahori isn’t the best, but those films were well done, especially the Bond movie, bearing in mind the genre limitations. Goldman’s take on Total Recall was good, being an Arnie fan makes it easier to take!

I don’t think this necessarily equates to a bad thing, and we’ve got to have some hope for a story from such a rich source as Dick. Perhaps I’m the eternal optimist, but I’m not writing it off, with or without Moore. Sigh.