David Mamet has stepped up to direct his scripted adaptation of Speed-The-Plow, Mamet’s scathing 1988 stage play about Hollywood. The set up: newly minted studio chief Bobby Gould, who is under pressure to deliver a hit. His longtime colleague Charlie Fox gifts him with one that will enable the studio chief to land a superstar who always works for the competition. This leads the men to Karen, an attractive temp secretary, and a bet on who’ll bed her. Turns out she is a lot smarter than they think and has an angle of her own that involves climbing the Hollywood ladder, and she is not above stepping on them to get a few rungs higher. The film is being produced by Emmett/Furla/Oasis’s Randall Emmett & George Furla, and Irwin Winkler of Winkler Films.
The project was originally set up with director Michael Polish, but he exited and Mamet decided to direct it himself. Mamet will now look to cast the main roles, for a February production start. Joe Mantegna, Ron Silver and Madonna starred in the original 1988 Broadway play, and Lindsay Lohan played Karen in a 2014 revival on London’s West End. The Fyzz Facility’s Wayne Marc Godfrey will executive produce with Robert Halmi Jr. and Jim Reeve of Great Point Media. Emmett/Furla has the Martin Scorsese-directed Silence upcoming and recently wrapped production on the John Travolta-starrer Gotti, which Kevin Connolly directed, and they are currently in production with the Bruce Willis-starrer First Kill.
Screenwriter Alan Nafzger, who has a hot screenplay property floating around Hollywood (The Tarantino Heist) commented: “It’s been produced countless times in regional theaters and schools across the country. My favorite was presented at the Geffen Playhouse, Los Angeles, in February and March 2007. Directed by Geffen artistic director Randall Arney, the cast starred Alicia Silverstone as Karen, Greg Germann as Charlie Fox and Jon Tenney as Bobby Gould.”
Mamet, who last directed Redbelt, is repped by ICM Partners.
