Last we heard, the word surrounding Sam Mendes' adaptation of Ian McEwan's "On Chesil Beach" was not promising. In a story eventually pulled from the web, the Telegraph noted that producers (Focus Features) postponed the film after a lengthy pre-production, noting that "there need to be leaves on the trees." While a male co-star hadn't been found (although we were told by a good source that Mendes badly wanted Andrew Garfield), production had been pushed to next year and it was unknown if Carey Mulligan -- linked to the lead role -- or even Mendes himself, would be returning. Well it appears that the film now has some signs of life again.In a piece in the Guardian (via Bleeding Cool) today about French finance of British film, this intriguing tidbit was buried in the report: "StudioCanal is also looking at the Sam Mendes project On Chesil Beach, based on Ian McEwan’s novel, after US studio backer Focus Features dropped out." Of course, "looking" could mean anything at this point, and ultimately could lead to nothing, but it does seem as if the project is trying to find new backers to help get it in front of cameras and that Mendes at least is still involved (though still no word if Mulligan is still eyeing the lead role).
Things have otherwise been quiet on the Mendes front. He's circled a couple of major franchise films during the year -- "Oz The Great And Powerful" (which went to Sam Raimi) and "Hunger Games" (which went to Gary Ross) -- and of course, he's still attached to "Bond 23," but that project is still a ways off. Even with new management scheduled to take over MGM any day now, they will have no money to pour into anything else but "The Hobbit."
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