Vince Vaughn has fallen into somewhat of a slump lately with his film choices. Although he has shown audiences that he has a definite range with titles like Swingers and Domestic Disturbance, he’s become somewhat of an exclusive comedic presence in recent years. The trailer for his latest film, The Watch, was released a few weeks ago and the first time I saw it in theaters the person next to me couldn’t help but to remark, “hasn’t he done this already?”
It looks like someone else may have been listening to that comment too because Deadline is reporting that Vaughn and his production company, Wild West Picture Show Productions, have acquired the rights to Ridley Pearson’s novel, The Risk Agent, which was released just last month. Vaughn plans to both produce and star in the project, which the company secured with their discretionary funds.
The story, which is being adapted by Michael Lerner, is set in Shanghai and follows a hostage situation as it unfolds. The character Vaughn will be playing, John Knox, is a private investigator hired to extract the hostage, “a Chinese National working for an American-owned construction company [who] is grabbed off the streets of Shanghai in broad daylight.
He will be teamed up with a forensic accountant named Grace Chu, who is responsible for tracking the money. After all, if we’ve learned anything from crime dramas it’s to always follow the money, right?
This isn’t the only project that Vaughn is working on currently that breaks his recent trend though. He will also star in the action adventure film Gunslingers, where the past intersects with modern day using Los Angeles as the backdrop.
It will be nice to see Vaughn moving his career forward with some less predictable roles. The occasional comedy is fine and they clearly play to Vaughn’s strengths, but giving fans something different every once in a while is a wise career choice.
Are you interested in seeing Vince Vaughn move further away from the comedy genre, or do you think he should keep doing what he’s doing?