Writer and director William Monahan, who is probably best known for his Oscar win for Martin Scorsese‘s The Departed in 2006, will step behind the camera for a second time this year. Monahan will write and direct a crime thriller titled Mojave in Southern California, with production beginning in August.
Monahan’s 2010 directorial debut London Boulevard, which starred Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley, wasn’t particularly well received, but that may have been partly due to the film’s small release in North America. That being said, I actually really enjoyed it and I thought it was one of the better films that I saw that year.
Monahan was expected to make Becket, a remake of the 1964 film, for his second directorial effort but that film has been shelved for now. Mojave will be Monahan’s third script in production this year, having also done re-writes on both Joseph Kosinski‘s Oblivion and Robert Rodriguez‘s Sin City 2.
Mojave will have a small budget and plot details are being kept hidden at this point, but with filming around the corner, we can expect casting announcements soon.
Mojave is eyeing a release sometime in 2013.