One subject that seems to have a lot of filmmakers at work right now is the 2008 financial collapse. It seems to be the project plaguing the minds of the politically minded filmmakers, we’ve got Michael Moore‘s surprisingly heartfelt Capitalism A Love Story, Oliver Stone’s thoroughly average Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and the Oscar winning documentary Inside Job. Plus we can look forward to the the HBO project Too Big To Fail. Now there is another project that can be added to that list, which is Cities directed by Roger Donaldson.
Attached to star are Clive Owen and Anil Kapoor who both have leads in the film. The project is being put together by Parlay Films and will be at the Cannes Market next week at the film festival looking for distributors. The Hollywood Reporter provides us with a brief synopsis:
Cities is described as a cautionary tale about greed and ambition that takes place on a global scale in three colliding story lines set in the exuberant months leading up to the Dow Jones all-time stock market high. The three involve a New York-based hedge fund manager (Owen) who has everything he wants — money, sex and power — but he wants more; a young couple in London that just wants to buy their first home, something that seems impossibly out of reach; and Mumbai cop fights against corruption between property speculators and his colleagues, one of whom will be played by Kapoor.
Donaldson co-wrote the script from an original script titled Extreme Cities, written by Glenn Wilhide. The  production is set for an October start date for a shoot that will take place on location in London, Mumbai and New York.
The film sounds interesting enough and I’m interested in the whole financial collapse and it would good to see a fictional portrayal of the collapse that succeeds on a dramatic level. Owen is a solid actor who hasn’t really attached himself to anything of interest since Children of Men, and Kapoor is a very talented man who was one of the best things in Slumdog Millionaire and a very nice addition to the cast of 24. I’m intrigued for this and as always we’ll keep you updated on any further developments.
