1995's Saint and Charteris News

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December 16, 1995: Kilmer's No 'Saint' After Dropping Out of Movie
By Anita M. Busch
Source: Reuters/Variety

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Val Kilmer has lost his halo, after deciding to opt out from Paramount Pictures' big screen adaptation of "The Saint," sources said.
Kilmer committed to the project last month, but sources indicated there was another project at another studio vying for his services. The news comes as director Phillip Noyce is in London casting other roles for the film. The project was supposed to go before the cameras in March.
Insiders said the studio still plans on making the film, which it is carefully nurturing as the first step in a franchise that will run into next century. Other actors mentioned for the part have included Mel Gibson, Ralph Fiennes and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Producer Robert Evans ("Love Story", "Chinatown") bought the movie rights to the literary hero from creator Leslie Charteris several years ago. He handed over day-to-day chores to Oscar-winning producer David Brown who hired Kilmer.
Kilmer has just done three films back to back -- "Batman Forever," "Heat," and "Island of Dr. Moreau." He is currently filming "The Ghost and the Darkness".

December 11, 1995: Kilmer's No Saint; Par's Halo Up For Grabs
Source: page 7 of the December 11, 1995 Daily Variety

Val Kilmer will not star in "The Saint" as negotiations broke down between the star and Paramount Pictures, sources said.
That word comes as director Phillip Noyce is in London casting other roles for the film. The project was supposed to go before the cameras in March.
Insiders said that the studio still plans on making the film, which is being produced by Robert Evans and David Brown and executive produced by Robert Baker. Other actors mentioned have included Mel Gibson, Ralph Fiennes, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Kilmer had committed to the film last month, but sources said that Kilmer told his reps and the studio that he is no longer willing to do the project.
It's not clear why, although sources said there is a project at another studio that is vying for Kilmer, and it would conflict with "The Saint's" start date. "The Saint" has been postponed once before. None of the parties involved in the project would comment.
The actor also has done three films back to back: Warner Bros.' "Batman Forever" and "Heat" and New Line Cinema's "Island of Dr. Moreau." Kilmer currently is filming Douglas/Reuther's "The Ghost and the Darkness" for Paramount Pictures.

November 27, 1995: The Saint is showing on Bravo in Canada

The Saint TV Series is being shown on Bravo channel in Canada. In Toronto, it can be seen Thursdays from 11:00pm to 12:00am; Fridays from 7:00am to 8:00am and also from 3:00pm to 4:00pm).

November 16, 1995: The Saint Marches In With Kilmer
Source: Reuters/Daily Variety

Paramount has found its Saint.
Val Kilmer will star as debonaire Detective Simon Templar in Par's new feature version of THE SAINT directed by Phillip Noyce, sources said.
The deal marks the end of a protracted casting process that saw the role offered to several A-listers, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mel Gibson, and Ralph Fiennes.
The project has been in development at Paramount since producer Robert Evans bought the rights to novelist Leslie Charteris' character more than five years ago.
Kilmer, who is currently shooting Paramount's GHOST IN THE DARKNESS in South Africa, recently wrapped production on New Line's ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU. In October Noyce flew to the MOREAU set in Australia to discuss the part with Kilmer (Daily Variety, Nov. 2).
Kilmer's next appearance will be in the upcoming Warner Bros.' film HEAT, with Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino.
Franchise meister
If THE SAINT performs well, Kilmer, who is expected to reprise his BATMAN FOREVER role in a fourth winged crusader film, could find himself central to two lucrative franchises.
The actor follows in the footsteps of Louis Hayward, George Sanders, and Hugh Sinclair, each of whom played the title role in one or more SAINT features at RKO, most of them released in the late '30s and early '40s.
Perhaps the best-known Templar, however, was Roger Moore, who portrayed the investigator in the late '60s British TV show.
Kilmer is represented by Rick Nicita at CAA.

November 16, 1995: Val Kilmer Will Star As The Saint
Source: Reuters/Variety

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Val Kilmer will star as debonaire detective Simon Templar in the new feature version of "The Saint'' directed by Phillip Noyce, sources said Wednesday.
The deal marks the end of a protracted casting process which saw the role offered to several A-list actors including Mel Gibson, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ralph Fiennes.
The project has been in development at Paramount since producer Robert Evans bought the rights to novelist Leslie Charteris' character more than five years ago.
Kilmer, currently shooting "Ghost in the Darkness'' in South Africa, recently wrapped production on ``Island of Dr. Moreau.'' In October Noyce flew to the "Moreau'' set in Australia to discuss the part with Kilmer.
Kilmer's next appearance will be in the upcoming "Heat'' with Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino.
If "The Saint" performs well, Kilmer, who is expected to reprise his "Batman Forever" role in a fourth winged crusader film, could find himself central to two lucrative franchises.
The actor follows in the footsteps of Louis Hayward, George Sanders and Hugh Sinclair, each of whom played the title role in one or more "Saint" features at RKO, most of them released in the late '30s and early '40s.
Perhaps the best-known Templar, however, was Roger Moore, who portrayed the investigator in the late '60s British TV show.

November 15, 1995: Roger Moore Biography on A&E

Roger Moore's biography, Roger Moore: A Matter of Class, was shown on A&E's Biography series Tuesday, November 15th, 1995. If you missed it, you can order the VHS video tape for $19.95, plus $3.95 shipping and handling, by calling 1-800-423-1212 in the USA and Canada (prices slightly higher in Canada). It didn't have a huge amount of stuff about The Saint, but there was some interesting tidbits that I'd never heard of before (Jackie Collins was in an early Saint episode). You can also order tapes and other merchandise from A&E's web site at http://www.aetv.com/.

November 5, 1995: A New Saint Novel--Capture the Saint

Capture the Saint, according to rumor, unites Simon Templar with a significant character from one of his most famous adventures, takes place in Seattle, Washington, USA, and features "hidden" references to various tid-bits of Saint lore. There is blackmail, breakins, rescues, wild midnight rides, unrepentent ungodly, and a very special birthday surprise for an old friend of the Saint...oh yes, there is also much ado about a search for the legendary Costello Treasure.

November 1995: Biography of Leslie Charteris

With Burl Barer currently putting the finishing touches to the first new Saint adventure in over ten years (Capture the Saint), Ian Dickerson, Honorary Secretary of The Saint Club, has confessed that he is hard at work on a Saint story as well as the authorized biography of Leslie Charteris. "To those who worry about what we'll do with the Saint, don't," he says, "Everything will be seen and okayed by the Charteris Estate before reaching the publishers." Dickerson, who has just come back from a two-week stint examining The Leslie Charteris Collection at Boston University, is also hard at work on a number of other Charteris/Saint related articles and projects.

November 1995: Saint Film to Start Production in March 1996

Despite rumours to the contrary, production is still scheduled to start in March next year with location shooting in the USA and Russia (however it is not know at this time whether the Saint's producers have seen "Goldeneye" - the new Bond film). The latest version of the script (delivered by the fifth writer to work on the project) was finished late last month but as yet no one - male or female - has been cast. Patience is most definitely a Saintly virtue...

November 1995: Credits for the Upcoming Saint Movie

More on the allegedly upcoming movie: Director should be Philip Noyce. Producer is also David Brown (alongside Robert Evans). Screenplay credit could go to any one of five people but the latest scribe is Wesley Strick, and it may well be his script that gets produced. Co-producer is Branko Lustig (no, that's not an anagram). And Roger Moore will not be in it, and neither will Patricia Holm feature in it (two earlier rumors).

November 1995: The Saint on Bravo in England

Those English Saints who have a satellite dish are currently able to catch the entire Roger Moore series of THE SAINT which is currently airing on Bravo. It's also scheduled to be re-run on terrestrial TV (BBC 2) starting late next year. And rumours of another book on Saintly Television may not be greatly exaggerated...

November 2, 1995: Val-iant Role?
Source: the Dish column in the November 2, 1995 Daily Variety

Director Phillip Noyce is making noise on the Australia set of ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU. Sources said he went there to meet Val Kilmer about playing the lead in Paramount's THE SAINT. Paramount got THIS CLOSE with Mel Gibson and Arnold Schwarzenegger before considering anointing Kilmer with sainthood. Though Noyce is Australian, he was in Hollywood when Kilmer read the script and sparked to it, so the director hopped a plane back home for the meet. Kilmer would be an intriguing choice, even though he's already the star of another film franchise based on a TV series. At least in THE SAINT, he'd get to act heroic without the confines of Spandex.

News and Rumors Archives

If you want more Saint news, there was lots of news in 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, late 1997, early 1997, 1996, and 1995. As always, be sure to check The Saint's News and Rumors Blog on a regular basis.