Variety reports that a new screenwriting team has been brought in to take a whack at Dreamworks’ update of "Matt Helm," the spy-spoof franchise that starred Dean Martin back in the 60s. The Dean Martin movies were very loosely based on the 27 dead-serious spy novels by Donald Hamilton.
Dreamworks first announced the project back in 2002 with director Robert Luketic ("Legally Blonde") at the, um, helm. It’s been in development hell ever since. The "new contemporary take" will be written by Michael
Brandt and Derek
Haas .
For some reason known only in Hollywood, they got noir kings like William P. McGivern and Phil Karlson to work on the originals – and made them suck-ass spoofs.
Lee
Do you know anthing about Edward S. Aarons and his Assignment series? Were they any good. I picked up over a dozen at my used books store – along with several of the Matt Helms and John Gardner’s Bond series and was wondering what your opinion of these guys would be. I’ve avoided Gardner because I love the original Bond.
JDC
the same Derek Haas I see commenting around on writer’s blogs?…wowo, cool, congrats to him
JDC
Aarons’ Durell predated Helm andnever veered off of a sombre or ‘dead serious’ tack in about 40 titles in the series. Helm’s got a bit tongue in cheek in latter books, say from the 11th on. You will like Durell if you have a fascination with the Asian &Arab world as seen by western eyes in the 50s thru 70s. The author is something of an Orientalist. Durell and the earlier Helm were not so much Bond as Sam Spade and Marlowe moved to a cloak and dagger settings.
As for the current revival attempt by Steven Spielberg’s Dreamworks, I shudder to think what feel good multiculturalist manglings will be wrought on the original books which re always taut fun read for myself because for one thing they didn’t have those kinds of political correct complications.