Casino Royale director boots Bond 22 helmer off remake?

By Matt Holmes /

Sorry for the rather obscure title for this post but it does make sense when I've explained it to you. The Hollywood Reporter are telling us that Casino Royale director Martin Campbell has been hired to direct the remake of the French language movie 36 quai des orfevres for Paramount Pictures. Although the trade doesn't mention this extra little tidbit, it is true. Way back in January it was announced that Marc Forster was the man bringing this project to the big screen, the guy who last month was claimed to have been offered the job of directing Bond 22. So Campbell (Casino Royale) has replaced Forster (possibly Bond 22) for this remake. Ironically of course, Forster might have pulled out to due to scheduling difficulties possibly because he is set to work on the Bond film instead of it's previously helmer Martin Campbell. Does that make sense? I think I might have overly complicated this post!
The story revolves around two detectives who try to solve a series of armored car robberies in the hopes of landing a promotion promised to whoever catches the perpetrators.
Robert De Niro and George Clooney were both said to have been cast many moons back but now the trade is only mentioning De Niro, likely because of his involvement as producer. The script is currently going through a re-write from Richard Price, apparently to reimagine the lead characters as 30 year olds. That would certainly rule Clooney and De Niro out. Bottom line on this... Campbell is a better suit for this looking at his filmography. He's got a great eye for action, whereas Forster has yet to be tested in that area.