Director decides to go with another scribe.
Two months ago it was reported that David Koepp (‘Premium Rush,’ ‘Spider-Man’) had been tapped to replace Jerry Stahl (‘Bad Boys II’) as the screenwriter for an adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s detective novel ‘The Thin Man.’ Now THR is reporting that Koepp is out, and that Warner Bros. has hired ‘Shattered Glass’ and ‘Breach’ writer-director Billy Ray to tackle the screenplay.
Hammett’s novel centers on Nick and Nora Charles, a rich, glamorous couple who solve homicides in between wisecracks and martinis. Along with their schnauzer Asta, the couple investigates a murder involving an eccentric inventor and his bizarre family. In 1934 William Powell and Myrna Loy starred as the detective duo in adaptation of the novel directed by W.S. Van Dyke. The film spawned five sequels and a television series.
Taking the role of Nick Charles in the new adaptation will be Johnny Depp, with his ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ helmer Rob Marshall taking the director’s chair. The role of Nora has yet to be cast.