Michael Polish Picked to Direct Mamet's Speed-the-Plow Film | Playbill

News Michael Polish Picked to Direct Mamet's Speed-the-Plow Film The 90 Minutes in Heaven director has not yet named a cast.

Michael Polish, who directed the 2015 film 90 Minutes in Heaven, has been chosen to direct the previously-announced movie adaptation of Speed-the-Plow, David Mamet's scathing takedown of the Hollywood decision-making process, according to Deadline Hollywood.

The casting process for the film is underway, with shooting scheduled to begin July 30. The original 1988 Broadway production starred Ron Silver, Joe Mantegna and Madonna.

A London revival was staged last fall starring Lindsay Lohan.

The play tells the story of a pair of Hollywood producer who are all set to make a big-budget action film with a name star, but the plan gets derailed when a sexy secretary brings them a uncommercial script that she convinces one of them would be a great prestige project.

Mamet himself will adapt the screenplay for a team of producers, Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films, Winkler Films & The Fyzz Facility.

The show was revived on Broadway in 2008 starring Raul Esparza, Elizabeth Moss and Jeremy Piven, the latter of whom was replaced in succession by Norbert Leo Butz, Jordan Lage and William H. Macy. The play's title was considered a mystery for a long time, until Mamet cleared it up (slightly) saying in an interview that he remembered seeing the phrase "Industry produces wealth, God speed the plow" on an old plate, and felt it related to the themes of the play.

Mamet's plays are known for delving into the unique argots of various American walks of life. His Glengarry Glen Ross captured the speech patterns of real estate salesmen; his November did the same (in a comic way) for politicians; his A Life in the Theatre did so for actors; his American Buffalo did so for small-time crooks, and so forth. But the movie industry has exerted a strange fascination for Mamet. He has written about various aspects of it his film scripts for Wag the Dog and State and Main.

 
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