Posted By: John Steele
By Gregg GoldsteinMon Nov 6, 7:22 AM ET
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Tony Kaye is back. The
notoriously mercurial "American History X" director has
re-emerged in the feature film world, shopping his acclaimed
abortion documentary "Lake of Fire," which debuted at the
Toronto International Film Festival in September, and a new
thriller from script guru Robert McKee, "Madness."
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That word has been associated with Kaye since he fought New
Line Cinema and Edward Norton tooth and nail over final cut on
"X" eight years ago. "I was in the clouds back then," Kaye
admits. He's since patched things up with the studio, prepping
a 10-year anniversary director's-cut DVD of the film and even
discussing new projects with executives there. But it's
"Madness" (which Kaye will produce with McKee and former agent
Josh Klein, via his new outfit the Group Films) that's on his
mind.
The film, which is set to be McKee's first produced
theatrical feature, centers on a doctor who has cured and
married one of his former patients. The pair run an insane
asylum, but things turn deadly when the husband begins testing
his cure for schizophrenia on the inmates.
"McKee is as mad as me," laughs the director. "He gave this
to me 10 years ago and he doesn't give his scripts to anyone."
It's one of several projects Kaye says he has in the
pipeline. There's also "Murderer's Row," a courtroom drama
about capital punishment, and an untitled Carl Lund script
about corporations financing a gambling operation based on
no-holds-barred fights in prison.
Kaye has remained a superstar in the world of commercials.
He's now off in China filming "mini-documentaries" on health
care providers for Johnson & Johnson and will soon begin
shooting a series of computer-animated spots for the United
Arab Emirates on a new city that will fuse ancient Arabic
iconography with futuristic architecture.
Kaye's music video work also is taking off. His Red Hot
Chili Peppers video "Dani California" scored at this year's MTV
Video Music Awards, and his new Johnny Cash video, "God's Gonna
Cut You Down," features cameos from everyone from Justin Timberlake to Owen Wilson.
But whether old demons will resurface remains a big
question mark for the director and a potential headache for any
distributor who chooses to buy "Fire." Kaye spent some 16 years
(and, he claims, $6 million-$8 million) on his graphic and
thought-provoking two-and-a-half-hour examination of the
abortion controversy, giving equal weight to both sides of the
debate.
Just before its Toronto premiere, Kaye said he would
continue changing the film, but after an enthusiastic response
at the fest, he said he won't put any distributor in the same
situation as New Line. "The film is what it is, and in a way it
works," he said. "I could spend another year and a few million
more dollars, and it wouldn't change what it is."
Most importantly, Kaye said, he just wants to get back in
the game. "I'm 54 and I'm getting old now. I've got to have
some presence in the filmmaking world," he said. "Gone are the
days when I wanted to be a lunatic. I want to be seen as a
responsible craftsman."
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
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