David Cronenberg’s 2007 crime thrillerEastern Promises—starringViggo Mortensen,Vincent Cassel,andNaomi Watts—is probably best known for the brutal, drawn out, very naked fight scene that set a standard for all on-screen violence to follow. Which is fair, but it also clouds the fact that the film is spectacular as a whole, and according to writerSteven Knightwe’re getting to get more of it. When our own Steve Weintraub brought the filmmaker into the Collider Studio to discuss his latest,Serenity, Knight confirmed that anEastern Promisessequel is written and likely to go into production this year.
“It is like fishing, where you leave it out there. And it’s been out there for a while. It went through permutations in the sense of, how do you follow Viggo? We’ve been through that and we’ve moved on and now we’re in a position where I will say “watch this space,” we’re close to getting into production.”
Although he couldn’t name specific names quite yet, Knight did note that a director is attached to the film. Mortensen, who is deep in Oscar season right now for his role inGreen Book, will not be back for the sequel, but Knight said the project is “out to a couple of really good actors.”
The script, according to Knight, has gone through numerous changes recently as a result of the United States' ongoing controversies concerning Russia. Cronenberg’s original film delved deep into the Russian mafia, ending on Mortensen’s Nikolai Luzhin taking control of the criminal organization.
“[The script] changed a bit,” Knight said. “It changed quite recently as a result of events in the world. The topicality of the Russia thing. I’ve adapted it to reflect recent events.”
Check back here for Steve’s full interview with Steven Knight, which also includes updates onTabooseason 2andCharles Dickensadaptations withTom Hardy.
