Having scored one of their bigger critical hits with Inside Llewyn Davis, filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen are sticking in a period milieu for their next project. According to Deadline, the brothers are setting up Hail Caesar, which, despite the title, will not be set in Roman times.
Instead, it’ll chronicle the behind-the-Hollywood-scenes wrangling of Eddie Mannix, a fixer in the employ of the studios who works to protect the reputations of their stars in the 1950s. It’s a comedy apparently based on the work of real-life private eye Fred Otash, a lifeguard-turned-cop who was fired from the force and turned to a life of wiretapping and investigation for the big film companies of the time.
It was his responsibility to control and manage the images of the stars, making sure that embarrassing scandals were quietly covered up and problems were dealt with by any means necessary. The behaviour has continued up until recently, when the Anthony Pellicano case put a damper on the use of private investigators. At least, that’s the official story…
There’s no word on a cast or a schedule yet for the new Coens pic, but we’re ready for whatever they have up their sleeves.