Jason Bateman is set to direct The Pinkerton, a hybrid supernatural-revenge movie for Warner Bros. and Bad Robot. The project was acquired two years ago, and it marks the first film collaboration between the two giant companies. J.J. Abrams, Michael Costigan, and Hannah Minghella will produce the movie alongside Bateman.
There are no cast names attached to the project at this moment, but this marks a huge endeavor for Bateman after the success of Ozark. The movie is based on a spec script by F9’s Daniel Casey and was first exclusively reported by Deadline.
Ozark’s Jason Bateman Has Been Tapped To Helm ‘The Pinkerton’
Not much is known about the plot, but the Pinkerton National Detective Agency was founded in the United States by Scottish-born abolitionist Allan Pinkerton, a former deputy sheriff in Illinois. The agency largely focused on railway robberies in its early days.
It rose to fame during the 1860s after Pinkerton claimed to have prevented an assassination attempt against President Abraham Lincoln. This became their glory days as Pinkerton agents were hired to become the president’s personal bodyguards during the height of the Civil War.
In 1907, a novel was published describing the abuse controversies surrounding the Pinkerton agents, especially their involvement in the Colorado Labor Wars from 1903 to 1904.
Bateman’s upcoming version is not the first time the story has been adapted on screen. Kevin Abrams and Adam Moore created a dramatization in 2014, which aired in Canada. The series spun for a short time with only one season. The story featured a father-and-son team with Kate Warne, the first female detective.
This is also not the first time Jason Bateman tried his hand at directing. He previously worked on television and films, and in 2013, he released his first directorial debut called Bad Words. His other notable works include The Family Fang, Arrested Development, The Outsiders, and Ozark. Bateman is also gearing up for another project called Black Rabbit.
The actor-director recently gained popularity for his performance in Netflix’s Ozark, which won several accolades, including Primetime Emmys in 2019.
The Pinkerton’s Influence On Pop Culture Media
The status of the Pinkerton agents as old-time spies and their involvement in several major historical events made the name stand out in popular culture. Felix Leiter from the James Bond novels was a Pinkerton agent, and even the famous Arthur Conan Doyle novel Sherlock Holmes featured a Pinkerton character.
It is obvious why Bateman and Abrams wanted to work on this project; it has an appeal to the masses, and people love a good western spy story.
Bateman has a lot of projects ahead of him, including a deal with Netflix to helm an adaptation of a yet-to-be-published book called Dark Wire. The story will revolve around how the FBI managed to build a fake telecommunications company that became an instrument for the world’s most wanted criminals. Fans could tell Bateman’s penchant for all things spies.
Warner Bros has not yet announced any release date for Jason Bateman’s The Pinkerton.
Source: Deadline
