Brett Ratner To Direct Midnight Run 2

Universal Pictures are reviving plans for a 25-years-later sequel to their well remembered 1988 classic Midnight Run, which has original star Robert De Niro attached to reprise his tough bounty hunter Jack Walsh. Deadline reports that Brett Ratner (Tower Heist, Rush Hour) has now entered talks to sit in the director's chair which has sent the Internet film community into a furious rage but just like his recent attachment to the MTV origins movie "I Want My MTV", I actually think this is a property where he could deliver something decent out of. He did himself make a decent mismatched buddy action comedy with the first Rush Hour movie, though where his mindset was for the sequels I don't know. G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra and Four Brothers writers David Elliot and Paul Lovett have been tasked with re-writing Tom Dowling's (Role Models) original script for Midnight Run 2. So if you ask me our concerns should be with the script Ratner will be directing from and not necessarily his talents behind the camera. As far as story goes, the original idea for the decades later sequel was for De Niro's ex-Chicago cop turned bounty hunter to team up with a younger convict which at one point was to be the son of Jonathan "The Duke" Mardukas, the turncoat accountant for the mob that Charles Grodin co-led the original film with. The reason to go the son route was because Universal were struggling to convince Grodin to come back for another run as he has effectively retired since 2006 where he appeared in the forgotten comedy The Ex, and has turned down all job offers that require him to be away from his home in Connecticut. Deadline are suggesting though that if Universal can get a good script going, he might just be convinced and his attachment would certainly improve the chances of this one being good. De Niro and Grodin's chemistry in the original made it what it is today... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1_N28DA3gY Martin Brest directed the original George Gallo written screenplay but neither man were seemingly asked to be involved in the sequel with Brest having not directed a movie since the embarrassing flop Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner led Gigli and Gallo writing on studio drudge like Codename: The Cleaner and Columbus Circle upon his recent credits.