Movie geeks of a certain upper-crust persuasion will soon be creaming themselves, given that Variety is reporting Robert De Niro and Al Pacino will team onscreen
for just the second time in Righteous Kill, a planned $60 million indie
production put together by Nu Image’s Millennium Films and Emmett/Furla
Films, with worldwide rights being shopped this week at the Cannes Film Festival. Jon
Avnet, fresh off directing Pacino in 88 Minutes, will helm the picture, from Inside Man scribe Russell Gewirtz’s
script about two cops chasing a serial killer. Shooting will begin the first week of August in Connecticut, with some autumnal filming in New York City to follow.

De Niro and Pacino each appeared in The Godfather II, but shared no scenes together. Michael Mann’s Heat, of course, scored big points by cleverly playing up its cat-and-mouse diner scene between the pair of legendary actors (and Kate Mantilini’s upscale truck-stop restaurant even got a boost from hosting it), but this will be much more of a partnership, so it seems. Producer Randall Emmett said the idea for the film actually originated from the two actors’ desire to work together more directly.

That’s great for screen aficionados, really, but the last part worries me. At two hours and 50-plus minutes, Heat managed only $65 million or so domestically, earning most of its laurels overseas, where it pulled in $120 million. Pacino and De Niro remain nearly unparalleled in respect, but their commercial track record isn’t exactly consistent (Godsend, anyone?), even in fare that tips toward the commercial side of the track. Contrived talent-melding projects rarely come across as less than rigged, and I’d really like for this movie not to eventually end up in the bargain bin alongside The Bone Collector. Fingers crossed, I guess…