McQueen in Return to the Screen from Beyond Grave

STEVE McQUEEN is to make his debut as a screenwriter, 25 years after his death.

The actor starred in films such as The Great Escape and Bullitt, but he never realised his ambition to be credited with writing a film. A chance discovery by Lance Sloane, McQueen’s godson, is about to change all that. McQueen’s estate is discussing final terms with Warner Bros for Yucatan, an action film set in Mexico.

Mr Sloane, who will be executive producer with McQueen’s son, Chad, found 16 notebooks in a vault of the actor’s possessions in Los Angeles. They contained storyboards and notes for a film that would reprise one of McQueen’s most iconic moments — the epic motorcycle chase in The Great Escape. The chase is the climax of the film about a band of treasure hunters who travel to the Yucatan peninsula in search of gold. They try to recover riches thrown into an underground cave by the Mayan inhabitants as offerings to the gods.

McQueen became fascinated by the peninsula’s cenotes — sinkholes formed when porous limestone collapses above underground lakes — when he visited Mexico with Sam Peckinpah, who directed him in The Getaway and Junior Bonner.
McQueen based the background for his film on the historical division between the country’s Spanish-blooded aristocrats and the indigenous population. He was especially interested in the Mayan practice of throwing gold and jewels into the cenotes.

The popularity of the ritual was discovered in 1901 when Edward Thompson, an American archaeologist, found gold discs and jade ornaments in a cenote near the ruins of Chichen Itza. McQueen made almost 1,700 pages of notes for the film, but abandoned the project either because of other commitments or ill health. He died from lung cancer in 1980.

The film will be brought to life by David Heyman, the British producer of the Harry Potter films, who hopes to strike a deal with McQueen’s estate and Paul Scheuring, who is adapting the script. Mr Scheuring said: “Certain things need to be updated, but everything needed for a great action movie is right there.”

Yucatan will be McQueen’s second return to the screen from beyond the grave. In 1997 he starred in an advertisement for the Ford Puma after images of him in Bullitt were digitally combined with modern footage of a car chase in San Francisco.

 

Wow. The movie sounds really neat. It reminds me of a book I read called "Temple" by Matt Reilly.

With the success of other such movies like Indiana Jones, National Treasure, and the Mummy (kind of a treasure hunt) I think Yucatan could really take off.

Were there any specifics as to cast and crew and when a possible release date may be?

 

sweet! i love movies like that!

Steve McQueen owns.

(and you guys are gonna hate me for this, but i think he did better acting in the Great Escape than in Bullitt, minus the epic chase of course...)

 

That is awesome!
Great find Brad.

 

I agree. And the Great Escape was 10 times better than Bullitt.

I'd like to see what they'll do with Yucatan.

 

Sweet!! Sounds like it has the makings for a good movie!

 

This is great news! Hope they do it right.
I've always been a fan of Steve McQueen, even without a Mustang.
I guess it's the way he lived his life, on and off the screen.
Happy Trails!!!