Oscar-winning filmmaker Neil Jordan’s next noir thriller Marlowe will star cool-as-ice action hero Liam Neeson in his one-hundredth picture. With Neeson attached, it’s safe to assume there will be a heart-pounding shootout and a dark intensity in this historical piece that was just bought by Open Road Films and features an all-star ensemble caught up in a 1930s mystery with surprising turns. With the purchase, Marlowe has scheduled its broad distribution in theatres for this coming December. Writing the script for Marlowe was Academy Award winner William Monahan, whose previous work includes Martin Scorsese’s The Departed and Ridley Scott’s Body of Lies, among many others.
The plot centres on Detective Philip Marlowe (Neeson), who has just fallen on hard times in this 1930s Bay City. Marlowe’s life is turned upside down when a stunning and affluent heiress, played by Diane Kruger, pays him to find her ex-lover. The detective finds himself in the middle of a dangerous inquiry, prompted by a series of falsehoods that would test his “quite unique set of talents,” as the ex’s disappearance turns out to be simply the top of the iceberg. Director Neil Jordan previously worked with Neeson on the 1996 movie Michael Collins, which was also set during the Irish Civil War. Jordan called Liam Neeson an “icon” and said he “can’t picture MARLOWE without Liam Neeson” in reference to their reuniting. But then again, I also find it hard to picture Michael Collins without him. Perhaps it takes an icon to portray an icon, but anyway, I’m thrilled to be working with Liam on his 100th film, a production of which we’re all very proud.
Author Raymond Chandler initially developed the character of Detective Philip Marlowe in the late 1930s as the apparently gruff but highly contemplative exemplar of hardboiled crime fiction. The femme Fatales in the genre has a hard time swaying Marlowe, who uses violence only as a last option. A gorgeous woman is begging at his desk, and the city is soaked in rain; he is the living embodiment of the black and white noire crime film. Marlowe is an adaptation of the Booker Prize-winning novel The Black-Eyed Blonde by John Banville, with the express permission of Chandler’s estate. A crime noire will be a change of pace for Neeson, who has been starring onscreen since the late ’70s and is more typically seen in action-packed thrillers. Neeson has acted in a wide variety of genre films, from romantic comedies like Love Actually to science fiction epics like Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. His most recent roles include Taken and The Grey. In addition to Neeson and Krueger, the cast also includes Danny Huston, Alan Cumming, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Daniela Melchior, Ian Hart, Colm Meaney, Francois Arnaud, and Jessica Lange (as Krueger’s famous movie star mother).
Award-winning director Jordan (The Crying Game) and screenwriter (Monahan) collaborate on Marlowe. Executive producers include Patrick Muldoon (actor), Celine Haddad (Vivarium), and Steven Sims. The release date for Marlowe in cinemas is set for Tuesday, December 2, 2022.