Jason Bateman is set to direct The Pinkerton, a supernatural western that Warner Bros. and JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot acquired two years ago. Pic was sold as a spec by F9’s Daniel Casey. It was the first original film project for Bad Robot since Warner Bros signed a big deal with the producer. Bateman and Michael Costigan will be exec producers. Bad Robot’s Abrams and Hannah Minghella are the producers.
The Pinkertons were a private security guard and detective agency established in the U.S. by Scotsman Allan Pinkerton in 1850. Pinkerton became famous when he claimed to have foiled a plot to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln, who later hired Pinkerton agents for his personal security during the Civil War.
It’s worth noting that there doesn’t seem to be confirmation as of yet that “The Pinkerton” relates back to the famous PI company, and given Bad Robot’s history of secrecy (see: the “Cloverfield” franchise), we may not know what to expect from the film for some time. Jason Bateman’s presence doesn’t exactly give away much, either, given that the actor-filmmaker has directed projects that are as tonally disparate as “Ozark,” “Arrested Development,” and “Family Matters.” His two directorial features to date, “Bad Words” and “The Family Fang,” are both dark comedies.
Bateman is also set to executive produce “The Pinkerton” alongside Michael Costigan, while Abrams and Hannah Minghella will produce. Bad Robot also has plenty of other projects in the works at the moment, from a Hot Wheels movie to a “Speed Racer” show. Last June, a wrench was thrown into the company’s partnership with Warner Bros. when news broke that Abrams’ ambitious sci-fi series “Demimonde” was not going to move forward with HBO after all.
“The Pinkerton” does not yet have a release date.
