February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Karen Butler
American action movie kings Jerry Bruckheimer and Joel Schumacher last week began filming their movie about murdered Irish journalist Veronica Guerin in Dublin.
“It’s with Cate Blanchett [‘Lord of the Rings’] and it’s about Veronica Guerin, who was killed by the Irish mob for reporting on their drug dealings, and since her death they’ve arrested most of them and changed the drug laws because of her,” Bruckheimer said.
Called “Chasing the Dragon,” the film is based on a GQ article written by Mike Sager called “The Martyrdom of Veronica Guerin.” Guerin, an award-winning writer for Dublin’s Sunday Independent, was killed in 1996 by an assassin working for drug dealers she wrote about in a series of investigative stories.
Bruckheimer, who was the producer of such testosterone-fueled movies as “Top Gun,” “Con Air,” and, most recently, “Black Hawk Down” and “Pearl Harbor,” said he felt compelled to make a film about Guerin because he loves “making pictures about people that make a difference.”
“Those two coaches in ‘Remember the Titans’ made a difference. The young man in Somalia [in ‘Black Hawk Down’] made a difference. That’s important to me,” he
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said.
Asked to describe what making a “Jerry Bruckheimer” movie entails, the producer, whose movies have grossed $12.5 billion, explained: “When you see the name and the logo, I think what’s important is that you’re going to be entertained, whether it’s something powerful and realistic like ‘Black Hawk Down’ and brutal or something like ‘Pearl Harbor,’ which is more romantic, or something like ‘Remember the Titans,’ which is exceedingly emotional, or ‘The Rock,’ which is all-out entertainment. We like to hit them all, but the one thing, hopefully, is you’ll never bored.”
Bruckheimer went on to say that he has been trying to broaden his horizons in recent years with films like the true-life dramas “Remember the Titans” and the upcoming “Chasing the Dragon,” and the comedies “Down and Out” and “Bad Company.”
“I like all kinds of movies,” the producer said. “I’d hate to make just one type of film. I like to try different genres because it makes it more exciting
because you learn more. When you attack another genre, it’s all fresh and you have to start all over again.”