Writer, now director, William Monahan crafts a unique brand of hard-boiled men. The Departed and Kingdom of Heaven screenwriter never follows a guy who’s gonna throw-down and flex at any chance he gets. His protagonists are flawed, paradoxical, and in London Boulevard, even kind of feminine. Monahan’s adaptation of Ken Bruen’s novel features a sensitive lead with no interest in being a gangster, an antagonist who’s more interested in kissing the Farrell character than killing him, and every other so-called mobster in this film could not be more incompetent. Unlike The Departed, Monahan has written an anti-gangster picture. The writer and his works are contrarian — his scripts generally go against conventions, and he speaks in a fairly candid manner. Here’s what writer-director William Monahan had to say about vulnerable, sexily flawed women, what makes for bad exposition, and why the last shot of The Departed still works, even if you didn’t get it:

Earlier today I spoke with William Monahan about his directorial debut, the really fun London Boulevard (now on VOD), and while speaking with the candid filmmaker, I couldn’t help but ask about the viking epic he was initially going to write for Mel Gibson. The untitled project was announced almost two years ago; there have been next to zero updates since then, with the exception of Leonardo DiCaprio leaving the project. Is Monahan still penning Gibson’s viking epic? No, and he never did. The writer/director said that he’s no longer working on the project — when asked about it, he responded by saying, “No, no. I don’t know exactly what’s happening with that, except it’s not going on right now. I didn’t [write anything for it], and it never went past the announcement, I believe.” Anyone who’s seen the director’s cut of Kingdom of Heaven knows that Monahan is more than capable of crafting an epic, and the same goes for Gibson; their sensibilities would be perfect for one another. Sadly, their two grand styles won’t be colliding for this once promising-sounding project. Hopefully it’ll still happen for Gibson, though. It’s been too many years since Apocalypto, which is one of the best chase films ever made.

Almost a year ago we got our first glimpse of William Monahan‘s (the writer behind The Departed and Kingdom of Heaven) directorial debut, London Boulevard, but it’s unfortunately taken a while for it to open in the states. Originally the film was going to be released by FilmDistrict, then not too long ago IFC took over distribution. While the British gangster pic wasn’t greeted with the best response, I happen to like Monahan’s debut a whole lot. This trailer, which is fairly similar to the U.K. one, is well representative. It sells the slickness and cool factor just right, where the film works best. The film isn’t as grand or as epic as The Departed, but it’s a smooth and clever directorial about a gangster trying not to be a gangster. And, yes, Ray Winstone is as fun as he looks in this trailer.

Yes, Martin Scorsese is planning a remake of 1974′s The Gambler with Departed screenwriter William Monahan (and trying hard to get Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role). Yes, the original’s writer James Toback isn’t happy that he wasn’t told about the project. Yes, he wrote a letter to Deadline saying so. But, with all due respect to Toback and the slight that was committed against him, the boring interpersonal drama of who didn’t call whom is nowhere near as fascinating as the rest of the story that he relates – namely, him selling a very personal script, finding the right lead, and the impact the film had. There are at least a half dozen times in his brief recounting that will draw either genuine laughter, or the kind that comes when no other response will do. His situation with getting his check signed at Paramount is outrageous, but it has this spark of what working in that world can sometimes be like. At any rate, it’s a compelling tale of Hollywood success and confusion that deserves to be read.

There is nothing like the hope that springs eternal for cool movie projects. The first Sin City was noir perfection with different kinds of eye candy (technical and biological) and a tapestry of a script that flew right off the pages of Frank Miller’s saturated graphic novels. Talk of Sin City 2 has gone on for far too long. It’s gone on so long that new information about it came with an Arrested-Development-Movie-sized-grain-of-salt, but the storm clouds seem to be lifting to reveal new light shining down on the sequel. Robert Rodriguez made a big noise about it at Comic-Con, claimed that funding had been found, and now The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that The Departed screenwriter William Monahan has signed on to do some work on Miller’s latest draft. That’s quite the pedigree for a polish. On the one hand, it’ll be great to have a pair of eyes like Monahan’s on the work, but it’s unclear as to whether this is uncredited doctoring or whether he’ll have the go-ahead to make significant changes if needed. Even if it’s a smaller role in shaping the story, there are still plenty of reasons to be excited for a sequel. Chief among them is Rodriguez claiming that the characters that survived the first film will make it to the sequel, and on that front, his track record of getting the talent he wants speaks for itself. Hopefully all of this comes together with relative speed, and we get a sequel worthy [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

William Monahan‘s directorial debut, London Boulevard, has been sitting on the shelf for some time now. The gangster pic got released in the U.K. last November, but we have seen no official press materials stateside. FilmDistrict was originally going to distribute the film for us American folk, but that no longer seems to be the case. IFC Films has swung in and picked up the U.S. distribution rights. With the talent involved, it could very well be their first investment to earn more than ten dollars. Considering they are a company that takes admirable chances, good for them. They will be giving Monahan’s film their usual indie treatment. First, it’ll premiere on VOD (October 5th), then later on hit limited release (November 14th). One would think a movie starring Colin Farrell would get a wider release than this, but the strategy makes sense. London Boulevard is not the most commercial film, and it’s far from a critical darling. The movie was ripped to shreds by critics in the U.K., and it’ll probably be received the same way here.

It’s really hard to get a handle on what William Monahan is doing tonally with London Boulevard in the first trailer for his directorial debut. At first, it seems like a zany gangster comedy in the vein of Guy Ritchie; Ritchie seems to be the comparison everyone else is using, and it’s understandable why they’d want to market it that way. But when “London Calling” kicks in, it starts looking more serious and more in the vein of Monahan’s The Departed.

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Things keep looking up for William Monahan. After exploding onto the scene with Kingdom of Heaven he followed it up by winning an Oscar with his The Departed script. Since then, he’s nabbed screenplay and writing credits for Ridley Scott’s Body of Lies, the upcoming Jurrasic Park IV, and now he’s set his sights on the director’s chair with his adaptation of the Ken Bruen novel “London Boulevard”.