Helmer makes 'Exchange'
McTiernan returns to biz after guilty plea
By PAMELA MCCLINTOCK
Director John McTiernanJohn McTiernan is cooperating with the FBI -- Film Bridge Intl., that is.
McTiernan is set to helmhelm "Deadly Exchange," the first directing
deal he's inked since pleading guilty in the Anthony Pellicano scandal.
FBI is financing and repping worldwide rights, while Anthony J. Ridio
Prods. is producing.
"Deadly Exchange," from a script by Ron Shusett and Ian Rabin, revolves
around a terrorist who goes undetected as he hunts down the FBI agent
who assassinated his father 10 years earlier.
With McTiernan attached, the project saw brisk business at the Cannes
market, selling off a number of territories. Some international buyers
did, however, have to be disabused of the notion that McTiernan -- who
directed such hit actioners as "Die Hard" and "The Hunt for Red October
-- was in jail.
Of late, McTiernan has had to reckon with real-life FBI agents.
The biggest Hollywood name so far to be caught up in the Pellicano
wiretapping scandal, McTiernan pleaded guilty in April to charges that
he lied to FBI agents.
In entering the plea, McTiernan admitted he had asked Pellicano to
wiretap producer Charles Roven, with whom he worked on 2002's
"Rollerball."
Legal observers said McTiernan's plea agreement with prosecutors
signaled he was cooperating with the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI
in the ongoing Pellicano investigation.
McTiernan is prepping "Deadly Exchange" for a scheduled start later this summer in Shreveport, La.
Anthony J. Ridio produces, with FBI's Ellen Wander to take an exec producer credit.
At Cannes, Film Bridge sold off Spain, Greece, Russia, the Middle East, Portugal and Eastern Europe.
McTiernan last directed John TravoltaJohn Travolta and Samuel L. JacksonSamuel L. Jackson starrer "Basic."
Shusett's credits include "Alien," "Total Recall" and "Alien vs. Predator."
Date in print: Mon., Jun. 5, 2006, Los Angeles
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117944603?categoryid=13&cs=1&nid=2586