Monahan and Michod Make the ‘Once Were Cops’ Director Shortlist

Noir crime-fiction writer Ken Bruen’s work has become a hot commodity in Hollywood this past year and now it appears Oscar-winning screenwriter William Monahan (The Departed) is on the shortlist to direct a second Bruen adaptation: Once Were Cops. Joining Monahan on the shortlist is Animal Kingdom writer/helmer David Michôd. Despite Monahan having already worked an adaptation on Bruen’s Brit-noir London Boulevard (which hits U.K. theatres next week), of the two, it would appear that Michôd would have the slight advantage, he is in award season mode, while Monahan might feasibly be working on screenplay material. Also on board Once Were Cops are writer David Logan (Circus) and producers Gil Adler (Superman Returns­) and Steven Sawalich (Music Within.)

Gist: Here’s the complete book synopsis — Michael O’Shea is a member of Ireland’s police force, known as The Guards. He’s also a sociopath who walks a knife-edge between sanity and all-out mayhem. When an exchange program is initiated and twenty Guards come to America and twenty cops from the States go to Ireland, Shay, as he’s known, has his lifelong dream come true—he becomes a member of the Boston PD. But Shay’s dream is about to become Boston’s nightmare. Paired with an unstable cop nicknamed Kebar, the two unlikely partners become a devastatingly effective force in the war against crime. But Kebar harbors a dangerous secret: he’s sold out to the mob to help his sister. Her rape and beating leaves her in a coma and pushes an already unstable Kebar over the edge just as Shea’s dark secrets threaten boil over and into the streets of Boston.

Worth Noting: Bruen set the exchange program as Ireland and New York in the novel, however, the script will change the setting to Boston, which is known for it’s Irish heritage. This will likely suit Monahan, who has experience using Boston as a setting from writing The Departed. Michod’s gritty Austrailian crime drama was one of the best-reviewed films of the year, winning the Grand Jury Prize, World Cinema – Dramatic, at Sundance.

Do We Care?: Yes. The jury is still out on Bruen and Monahan’s London Boulevard – reviews should be trickling in shortly, so we prefer to see Michôd serve himself a second helping in the crime genre as we think he might be comfortable working on a U.S production – in our IONCINEPHILE profile he demonstrated his penchant for American films (view his Top 10 Film List).