Ron Howard has got to be one of the busiest directors working in Hollywood at the moment, with a list of upcoming credits that’s only getting larger.
His passion project, The Dark Tower, may have lost its footing in recent months, but he’s currently attached to direct a film adaptation of TV series Spy vs. Spy, the novel Under the Banner of Heaven, and F1 racing drama Rush, which has just started filming.
Universal have now acquired a new pitch for Howard to direct, Collider report, entitled 364. The pitch comes from David Guggenheim, who will be making his writing feature debut with Safe House next year, due out on 24th February, which stars Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds, Vera Farmiga, and Robert Patrick. He’s also written Medallion, one of Nicolas Cage’s next projects, directed by Simon West (Con Air), which should be out next year too.
Even though Guggenheim hasn’t had his talent as a feature film writer debuted yet, the premises of those two films are both excellent, and his pitch for 364 is pretty intriguing too:
“The film revolves around a man who, on one day each year, has superpowers. The title refers to the number of days a year he spends thinking about what heroic deeds he will perform when the day comes.”
Howard is an absolutely fantastic director, winning himself two Academy Awards for 2001’s A Beautiful Mind, and getting a further two nominations at the Oscars in 2009 with Frost/Nixon. He’s made some incredible films over the years, and I’m always excited to hear about his upcoming projects. This new superhero film looks set to be a different direction from what we’ve seen from Howard so far, who seems to work hard at giving himself some very different films to direct.
This project is very much still in the early days, but it’s nonetheless something to look forward to, as all of Howard’s projects are. I’m just hoping that it also won’t be too long before we get to see/hear him return for the Arrested Development movie.
