I haven't seen the movie myself so I can't say if its story's outcome warrants a continuation or not, but, despite its box office success, Spike Lee's INSIDE MAN doesn't strike me as the sequel-spawning type. Lee and mega-producer Brian Grazer apparently beg to differ, though, because the pair are developing a follow-up to the film. No word yet on what exactly what it would be about or whether the first movie's stars - including Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, and Jodie Foster - will return to their roles and, while Lee is producing and already working on a script with, the original movie's writer, Russell Gewirtz, he's still in negotiations to actually direct this one. Should he decide to take that gig, he will have to decide if the sequel, over one of several other projects he's considering including the fantasy thriller SELLING TIME, will be next movie he shoots.
I can hardly think of an odder pairing than Robert De Niro and 50 Cent (Actually how about De Niro and William Shatner in SHOWTIME?) but it's actually happening. De Niro and Fitty have signed on to star in the upcoming cop drama NEW ORLEANS. As you might expect, the film deals with New Orleans post-Katrina and follows a cop (De Niro) who believes his partner died during the hurricane. When he finds out he was actually shot, he and his new partner (50) seek to find the truth and uncover police corruption. The project has seen extensive rewrites since its original conception as MICROWAVE PARK. It was originally set in LA and followed four detectives but was changed to include a post-Katrina storyline. TV director Tim Hunter ("Deadwood," "Cold Case") will step behind the camera for Millennium Films. De Niro has his next directorial effort THE GOOD SHEPHERD hitting theaters and recently wrapped production on STARDUST. 50 Cent can be seen next in HOME OF THE BRAVE with Samuel L. Jackson and Jessica Biel.
