Daniel Craig Eyed for Damien Chazelle’s Prison Movie

One year ago, on April 11th 2024, it was announced at Cinemacon that Damien Chazelle would reunite with Paramount Pictures for his sixth feature. Not much is known about the plot or any character details other than the fact that the movie will take place in a prison.

Now, insider DanielRPK reports that the first casting offer of the movie has been sent out and that Daniel Craig is being eyed for a key role in the movie.

Daniel Craig and Damien Chazelle make a very starry pairing, and it almost feels like the right time in both of their careers for such a project. 

Chazelle, once Hollywood’s golden boy with Whiplash and La La Land, faced a major setback with Babylon, a divisive and bloated spectacle that left audiences and critics split and studios wary to work with him again after its huge box office bomb. Despite its ambition and craft, Babylon struggled commercially and critically, placing Chazelle in what many call “director jail” – a place in which once-hot filmmakers face industry skepticism.

This is extra ironic considering the fact that this film is supposed to be set in a prison so not only will it be a breakout for the characters, but also Chazelle using this as his breakout from ‘prison’ too.

Since leaving the role of Bond, Craig has intentionally veered toward more intimate, experimental, and indie-leaning projects: a creative reinvention that reflects both range and risk. His performance in Queer, a stripped-down and deeply internal adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ novella, showcased a rawness and vulnerability that was a far cry from the tailored suits and calculated precision of 007. That move wasn’t just about stepping out of Bond’s shadow but embracing roles that challenge audience expectations and speak to his range as a performer. 

Craig also recently dropped out of DC Studios’ Sgt Rock, seemingly showcasing him moving away from franchise and IP characters, which makes this project perfect for his current vision.

In Chazelle’s original pitch for La La Land, he included a jailbreak scene and the film was a lot more depressing, using the musical as more of an escapist tool fuelled by idealism. Though it has been years since it was first written, he could be circling back around to these ideas for his movie, though that is just speculation.

“It involved a jailbreak and a prison sort of thing, and the main character was an autistic suicidal depressive. But somehow they went into a planetarium and flew up to space.” – Damien Chazelle. 

Late last year, it was reported that he would be directing a movie based on the life of Evel Knievel starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Adrien Brody, so that would likely shoot and release first, though with actors now being contacted for this prison movie, it could be that that is taking the priority now whilst Leo works on other projects first.

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