We’ve been following this story from the beginning, and while lots of blogs were taking the position that Denzel’s withdrawal from this project was final, we focused on the part where Fox was working on making a better offer. Who doesn’t like a better offer? Not Denzel, that’s for sure.
Well, now Variety reports that nearly two weeks after Denzel Washington withdrew, the actor and the studio have reached a compromise.
Progress on the film slowed when Fox insisted that the budget be lowered to around $90 million, which required salary concessions, basically reductions in pay of between 3 and 4 million dollars from the director Tony Scott and Denzel’s pay. Washington declined, and his agent began looking for other projects.
When Washington went with Tony Scott to promote “The Taking of Pelham 123” in Europe, he took a fresh draft of the script with him. As he and Scott kept talking, Fox and Washington’s agents at WME found some common dealmaking ground. Both parties found ways to be flexible. In other words, they got their money right.
So now, the movie is on track for a fall start, with pre-production under way in Pittsburgh.
“Unstoppable” will reteam the actor and director, and have Denzel playing a veteran engineer who jumps into a locomotive with a young conductor (Chris Pine, “Star Trek”) to stop an unmanned runaway train loaded with toxic cargo.
check out the new ‘Unstoppable’ trailer starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine! http://bit.ly/cT7sbZ