Paul Verhoeven directing Thomas Crown Affair sequel

The sequel to The Thomas Crown Affair has been searching around for a director for quite some time now, but recently announced winning candidate will probably come as a surprise to almost anyone. The Dutch director known for such films such as Robocop and Showgirls revealed on the Dutch radio program Met Het Oog Op Morgen that he's been tapped by MGM to direct the feature.

The sequel will be a combination of the novel The Light of Day and an earlier adaptation of the novel from 1964. A projected title is The Topkapi Affair, but it's probably too early to call that confirmed. Pierce Brosnan will be reprising his role as Thomas Crown but Renee Russo will be replaced, likely by Angelina Jolie.

The only thing that could hold back the feature from finally getting into production (the original Thomas Crown came out in 1999 and its sequel has been in development since 2002) is if the studio realizes how crazy it might be to allow Verhoeven to direct a picture such as this. Which isn't to say he won't do a great job, just that it may involve a lot of unnecessary nudity, stylized violence and a subtle critique of fascism that goes unnoticed by critics for a decade. Actually, that could end up pretty sweet. Maybe MGM did make the right choice.

Related links:
Paul Verhoeven on IMDB
The Thomas Crowne Affair on IMDB
Paul Verhoeven on Senses of Cinema

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