An intriguing creative duo are in line to collaborate on The Seven Five, a crime drama that could mark Ben Stiller’s return to film directing.
According to Jeff Sneider (via World Of Reel), Ben Stiller has signed up to helm The Seven Five, a crime drama that will be ‘set in the 1980s in New York City. The story’s about a corrupt police precinct and its ringleader, Michael Dowd, who was arrested in 1987 with a handful of other dirty cops who stole money and drugs. He served 14 years in prison, and his arrest exposed widespread corruption within the NYPD.’
It sounds intriguing, right? Add to this the talents of The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White in the lead role and you could have something special. Allen White was exceptional in last year’s The Iron Claw and his work in TV’s The Bear is no less remarkable. This feels like excellent casting and if we’re lucky, we’ll even get a sizeable onscreen appearance from Stiller as well given that he has a knack for featuring in films he directs. The Favourite's Tony McNamara was penning the script at one point too.
As a director, Ben Stiller boasts a directorial career that runs all the way back to the mid-90s, beginning with the zeitgeist-surfing slacker drama, Reality Bites. Along the way he’s given us such treats as The Cable Guy, Zoolander and Tropic Thunder yet Stiller hasn’t directed a film in almost a decade now, with 2015’s Zoolander 2 being the last film on his resume.
Read more: The Iron Claw review | A powerful, moving ode to brotherhood
While that film is perhaps less fondly remembered, Stiller has been busy in the years since making some seriously excellent television.
2018’s Escape To Dannemora and in particular, 2022’s Severance have seen Ben Stiller continue to build on his reputation as a director who has a knack for going where other storytellers don’t, and we’re hoping he’s taking that quality with him onto what is being reported as his first film project in a decade.
It’s doubtful that The Seven Five will go before cameras soon. Allen White has work on The Bear to complete and then a Bruce Springsteen biopic to shoot, so it could be some time before this one materialises. We’re here for it though and will bring you more updates as we hear them.
