DIAMOND DOGS (Shimon Dotan & Dolph Lundgren, 2007)

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DIAMOND DOGS (Shimon Dotan & Dolph Lundgren, 2007)

Postby Jox on 11 Sep 2006, 11:05

From Leopold St. Pierre, writer of "Diamond Dogs"
Director Shimon Dotan (an Israeli-Canadian) is a friend of Dolph's (Shimon produced Dolph's "Hidden Agenda") and they'd always talked about doing another film or two together. Dolph loves travel, loves different cultures (& is VERY respectful of them) -- and he also speaks 5 or 6 languages -- so they'd discussed doing something in some exotic corners of the world. A Chinese partner also really liked Dolph's work (and his reputation for being a nice guy who's easy to work with) -- so China and Mongolia came up as possibilities.

Shimon and his producing partner Danny Rossner approached me (I've done several projects with Danny over the years) to pitch action-adventure story ideas set in China/Mongolia for Dolph and the US distributor (Moonstone, who've also worked with Dolph a lot in the past & know the kind of sales his work can generate). I pitched them 7 ideas (5 pages each) -- Dolph and the distributors liked 2 (DIAMOND DOGS and another one, TUMBLING DICE, which Dolph is also contracted to star in next) -- & they gave me the "go-ahead" to write the scripts.

I went to Mongolia & Shanghai (where part of the filming is to take place) -- and have delivered 3 drafts of DIAMOND DOGS (we call it DD). Final polish is just being put on the 3rd draft of TUMBLING DICE as well. In response to your other questions:

a) Dolph gets VERY involved in the script phase (I received about 16 pages of VERY thought-out, very smart notes & suggestions on DD directly from him.
(He really knows his character and what his fans want -- & is willing to fight for it. His fans are his #1 priority, I can assure you.

b) I'm not at all involved on the producing side -- but I've been told the budget is around $6 million -- and that, despite the extra "challenges" of filming is more out of the way places like Mongolia (where it's hard to get crews and equipment, etc) they can really provide great "bang for your buck"! I know it'll be a great Dolph Lundgren film!

As I mentioned in my last note, Dolph is a real gentleman -- humble, friendly, professional, smart as hell, helpful & no "big shot" airs like a lot of stars I've worked with -- and everyone working with him has nothing but good things to say. Apart from his looks & talent, one of the reasons for his long and successful career is he leaves a trail of friends (not enemies) behind every project.

Hope you like the film -- & keep on supporting Dolph and his projects. Thanks
Last edited by Jox on 03 Apr 2008, 16:38, edited 2 times in total.
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Postby Jox on 11 Sep 2006, 11:08

The plot:
A handful of travelers, led by ex-American soldier Xander Ronson, find themselves transporting a priceless Buddhist Tangka through dangerous, remote Mongolia. One by one, they mysteriously die, each in a totally different yet strangely appropriate way. Who — or what — is behind the murders? The Tangka has great spiritual value to the locals — yet, being covered in diamonds and woven with gold and silver thread — just as great material value, particularly to ex-Russian Colonel Zhukov and his gang of ruthless mercenaries. And where does Lassiter, dealer in priceless stolen objets d'art, fit into the mix...?


Six are left... then 5, 4 — each dying despite mounting precautions. Escalating mistrust and paranoia run rampant. Facades and lies are peeled away, leaving, in the end, only the last twist, the key to the riddle of it all.


The action climaxes in an explosive final showdown between Ronson and Zhukov, with the fate of the priceless artifact — and both men's lives — hanging in the balance...
© L. St-Pierre
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Postby Tom on 11 Sep 2006, 12:23

Sounding more promising. Now all we need is to hear who is going to co-star with the Dolphster. I hope they get someone well known for Zhukov. Maybe Lassiter could be a ripe role for the B-Sleaze of Eric Roberts, Gary Busey or Rutger Hauer?
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Postby Mosquito on 11 Sep 2006, 21:22

I hope you don't mean "B-Sleaze" like my dictionary suggests it. A shame that Rutger Hauer is a B-list actor by now. My favourite movie is The Blade Runner and Rutger Hauer does a great job there (as he has done in many other movies).

Anyway: The DD script sounds pretty unimaginative. But then again the story of Men of War had been told a thousand times before and it is still a great movie for a sofa / bowl of nuts / glass of wine night.
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Postby Tom on 11 Sep 2006, 23:14

My definition B sleaze is about the kind of characters Roberts, and Hauer mostly play in their films, the bad guys. If either were cast in DD I'd be kinda disappointed if they weren't bad guys.

I don't mind Dolph carrying on doing some of his work for hire jobs, as long as they don't take themselves too seriously and deliver plenty of action and one liners. Plus I don't see that he'd do anything as bad as Retrograde or Agent Red again, he'd never let that slide. If he can deliver a few cheesy 80's style action man films, as well as his own projects of more depth and integrity, then it'll be a good mix. If he only did his own projects, while they'd be better films, I'd kind of miss the cheesier b-movie spec films. It's good that Dolph's got plenty of films on the horizon.
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Postby Jox on 11 Sep 2006, 23:34

I asked about the rest of the DD cast but didn't get a reply yet... I also hope I could get a first pic to see what it looks like... Stay tuned!
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Postby Tom on 11 Sep 2006, 23:43

Bruce Campbell?
Gary Busey?
Roy Schiederm?
Bruce Payne?
Eric Roberts?
Gary Daniels?
Jeff Fahey?
Rutger Hauer?
Mark Dacascos?

PA---LACE!! YOUR BETS LADIES AND GENTS!
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Postby Mosquito on 12 Sep 2006, 21:25

Tom wrote:My definition B sleaze is about the kind of characters Roberts, and Hauer mostly play in their films, the bad guys.


Oh, ok then. :wink:

Tom wrote:If he can deliver a few cheesy 80's style action man films, as well as his own projects of more depth and integrity, then it'll be a good mix. If he only did his own projects, while they'd be better films, I'd kind of miss the cheesier b-movie spec films.


Absolutely! I'll gladly watch the 1000. variant of "Men of War" or Arnie's "Commando" any night. And with Bruce "Come get some" Campbell? Wow, that would be awesome! I think Bruce would be a fantastic buddy like Brandon Lee was in SiLT.
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Postby Craigie-Boy on 14 Sep 2006, 22:26

I think Rutger Hauer would be great opposite Dolph. He got some screen time recently in Sin City and Batman Begins, but his roles weren't all that big. In my opinion, Hauer gave one of the greatest villain performances of all time in The Hitcher, playing (and I quote from a review I read on the film) "a clever, sadistic, and possibly supernatural, psychopath". If he could bring that same chilling performance to this film, we could truly be looking at something special.
Gary Busey could be a good choice as well -he's played a couple of good villain parts too.
Mark Dacascos? I have to say I'd prefer to see a movie where he was the good guy, against Dolph's bad guy...
But that's just me. :wink:
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Postby The_Canadian on 16 Sep 2006, 11:18

IMDB is finally on the board (somewhat...)!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0858433/
"Loosly translated... out of the frying pan and boned up the ass with a red hot poker."
-Showdown In Little Tokyo
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Postby Jox on 17 Sep 2006, 13:04

Hmm... Dolph is credited as one of the producers on IMDB...
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Postby bomaz on 26 Sep 2006, 18:26

dolph is now credited as producer & "writer" :arrow: http://french.imdb.com/title/tt0858433/combined
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Postby Jox on 26 Sep 2006, 18:53

That's most likely a mistake, because according to the screenwriter Dolph only gave him suggestion notes and nothing more... It's possible Dolph gave him intsuctions about the character and the general outline though...
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Postby bomaz on 27 Sep 2006, 10:57

dolph is also crdited as producer for another movie : Double or Nothing ! :? nothing to do with thumbling dice , or charachters from Diamond Dogs ....
is it another mistake ???
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Postby Jox on 27 Sep 2006, 11:39

Hmmm... never heard of it. One of the other producers is none other than James Chalke who was a bad guy in Retrograde and the sniper in The Defender so I don't think it's a coincidence... The writer, Daniel Yost, has one good credential: the script from "Drugstore Cowboy" that was directed by Gus Van Sant... I found a more detailed plotline on Yost's website:

DOUBLE OR NOTHING
After getting out of prison, slacker CHARLEY discovers that the lawyer who hired him and then set him up to be arrested by his FBI brother in a drugs-from-Mexico operation has married his ex-wife and molested his teenage daughter and gotten her into internet porn. He sets out to redeem his life, bring the lawyer to justice, save his daughter and salvage his relationship with his brother.
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