Add another nail in the coffin of the long-delayed political satire/romantic comedy “Nailed,” starring Jessica Biel and Jake Gyllenhaal, which THR has learned exclusively will be finished without the involvement of writer-director David O. Russell.
Russell has withdrawn from the $26 million production after one-on-one negotiations with financier Ronald Tutor, who controls rights to the movie with Pangea Media Group CEO David Bergstein, broke down.
Neither Tutor nor Russell would go into detail about why they could not come to an agreement, but THR has learned that Russell apparently was not happy that producers Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher of Red Wagon Prods. were being squeezed to cut their fees in half.
In a statement to THR, the producers characterized the concessions as “unfair” and “unprofessional.”
But the tussle over “Nailed” is not only about a movie in jeopardy; it’s a worrying sign that a potential new player in town, meaning the little-known Tutor, has managed in quick succession to alienate a well-regarded film auteur and an equally well-regarded producer team. This at the same time the billionaire construction magnate is in the midst of buying Miramax from Disney for $650 million.
The movie is about a small-town waitress who is shot in the head by a nail gun and later goes to Washington to fight for better health care; there, she meets a clueless congressman, and a romance develops.
“This has been a painful process for me,” Russell told THR on Tuesday. “The multiple production delays and stoppages, which were caused by David Bergstein and preceded Ron Tutor’s direct involvement with me, have now spanned two years, and the circumstances under which the film would now be completed are much different on several fundamental levels than when we embarked several years ago. I, unfortunately, am no longer involved in the project and cannot call it ‘my’ film. I wish Ron Tutor well.”
Tutor also expressed his disappointment in an interview last week with THR: “(David O.) Russell conducted himself like a perfect gentleman. I understood his position. It really didn’t have anything to do with him but with others, and we just reached a point where I couldn’t do what he wanted. But it was a decent negotiation between the two of us. No lawyers. No idle threats, just two people trying to clean something up, and we couldn’t get there. It was surprising and disappointing, but I understood.”
Added Tutor, “So we’re going to go ahead probably with ‘Nailed’ and try to hire another director and finish it.”
Atleast they are going to finish it so we could see an end result..
Total Recall (2012)
The Tall Man (2012)
Playing the Field (2012)
New Year's Eve (2011)
The A-Team (2010)
Nailed (????)
