KILLING PABLO will be next for Carnahan

The triple factor of the Oliver Stone/Antoine Fuqua project Escobar, Chris Pine turning down White Jazz to 'boldy go where Shatner has been before' and George Clooney's busy schedule has almost forced Joe Carnahan to give up on White Jazz for a while and focus on his movie based on Columbian drug leader Pablo Escobar titled Killing Pablo. This could well be the start of a fascinating duel between two different studio's and film-makers. This comes from Smokin' Joe's blog..

Might be going to Colombia as early as THIS WEEK. Major, major casting news coming in the next two weeks (hopefully after Thanksgiving) so it looks like this one might be ramping up faster than I thought possible. Had a big dinner last night with all the major foreign film buyers and I think they're all wanting to back 'KILLING PABLO' because they love the script and the material it's based on. It doesn't hurt that KP was a massive bestseller and everybody sees the upside to doing a film with the author of 'Black Hawk Down' which made a couple of bucks at the box-office a few years back. It was a great dinner and led to the obvious: It's time to hit Colombia and hit it hard... Updates to follow.

If he doesn't do the movie now, he may never make Killing Pablo and that would be a crying shame as it has been the one project he has been desperate to do for years. No word if the movie goes ahead early next year whether that will effect either Javier Bardem's (as Columbian drug cartel leader Pablo Escobar) or Christian Bale's (as the cop who tries to take him down) involvement in the film. Bale should be ok... his slate is 100% clean for next year at the moment. Though his casting comment could hint that he the change of filming dates has meant he has had to look elsewhere.