Rumours surface on Juror #2 - Clint’s next movie

Rumours surface on Juror #2 - Clint’s next movie

Thanks to our U.S. correspondent Kevin Walsh, rumours have begun surfacing on Clint’s next and possibly final movie. Here’s a few pieces I have managed to find.

Clint Eastwood reportedly directing Juror #2 as his final movie. Clint Eastwood is reportedly preparing to direct Juror #2 as his final movie, with the project set up at Warner Bros. Clint Eastwood has enjoyed a career which has spanned seven decades, but as the Hollywood legend is quickly approaching his 93rd birthday, the day of his final movie is closer than we may want.

According to Discussing Film, Clint Eastwood is preparing to direct what is being “internally billed” as the final movie of his long career. The project is a legal thriller currently titled Juror #2, which is said to follow “a juror on a murder trial who realises that he may have caused the victim’s death and must grapple with the dilemma of whether to manipulate the jury to save himself, or reveal the truth and turn himself in.” Eastwood is also said to be eyeing a young Hollywood star for the leading role. As Eastwood hasn’t personally said anything about retiring, there’s always a chance that he might have another movie in him after this one.

The project is being set up at Warner Bros., which shouldn’t come as a big surprise as Clint Eastwood has a long history with the studio. Eastwood’s most recent movie for Warner Bros. was Cry Macho, which was released in theatres and on HBO Max in 2021. When Cry Macho underperformed at the box office, it was reported by the Wall Street Journal that new Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav had questioned the executives involved in the movie. When those executives said that they would always be willing to take a chance on Eastwood regardless of the box office, Zaslav reportedly said, “We don’t owe anyone any favours.” Given this news, perhaps Zaslav has changed his tune for one final Clint Eastwood movie.

Exclusive: Clint Eastwood Ending Directing With Juror #2, Nicolas Hoult And Toni Collette Cast and Plot Revealed

Cinematic icon Clint Eastwood will conclude his long career as a filmmaker with an upcoming film titled Juror #2. According to our trusted and proven sources, the Pale Rider star will direct Nicholas Hoult and Toni Collette in one final film, which is apparently a legal thriller. While this will be Clint Eastwood’s last film specifically as a director, it does raise the possibility that the 92-year-old filmmaker may still act in or produce films in the future.

Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2 will follow a member of the jury of a murder trial who suspects he may have had some part in the victim’s death and is caught in a moral conundrum of whether to use his secret to sway the jury away and protect himself or turn himself in to the justice system he is participating in. It is fair to assume that Renfield star Nicholas Hoult will likely be playing the lead role of the juror, which will likely present his frequently boyish charisma in a more nuanced manner.

It is not known what role Toni Collette might be playing in Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2 as of yet. It is possible the Knives Out actress could be another member of the jury (possibly one who has some suspicions about Nicholas Hoult’s possible accessory-to-murder), a lawyer or judge in the trial, or even someone involved in the murder itself. Collette is known for her impressive performances in genres as diverse as romantic comedy (About a Boy), and psychological horror (Hereditary), so she can likely be trusted to pull off anything.

Clint Eastwood selecting Juror #2 as his final film as director is interesting, given that he is not particularly known for working in the legal drama genre. On the other hand, he has worked in just about every genre there is in his many decades in Hollywood, so he may want to remain open to new things all the way through the end.

It also raises the question of what studio Clint Eastwood might make Juror #2 at. While his films may not have the commercial impact they once did, Eastwood is still a massively influential figure in Hollywood, with Taylor Sheridan describing his film Unforgiven as a primary inspiration for the Yellowstone franchise. Clint Eastwood certainly has earned the opportunity to retire from filmmaking, and hopefully, his final directorial movie will be given the respect that he deserves.

Clint Eastwood: Affluent Golfer, Rare Magazine Cover

Clint Eastwood: Affluent Golfer, Rare Magazine Cover

It’s not unusual to see Clint with a Golf club in his hand, there are pictures of him dating right back to the Rawhide days. If the opportunity presented itself, and if Clint hadn’t taken on the duties of directing, he would often be seen practising his swing in between camera set ups. 

I was sifting through some magazines and magazine covers that I have accumulated over the decades when I came across a wonderful cover for a magazine called Affluent Golfer. As this was just a cover it unfortunately did not reveal a publishing date, although I have a niggling suspicion, I may also have the corresponding article for this elsewhere in the collection? But don’t quote me on that! I need to dig deeper.

However, I was trying to look for some kind of reference to this issue on the web and came up with absolutely nothing, just locating the publication itself didn’t turn up too many results – so I’m flagging up this particular issue as a very rare one indeed. It features a cracking cover shot of Clint seemingly hitch-hiking his way to Pebble Beach with Golf bag slung over his shoulder!

 

The most recognised magazine featuring Clint in Golfing attire is arguably the March 2005 issue of Architectural Digest, which took a look inside his Carmel Golf Club. This magazine often pops up on auction sites, unlike the Affluent Golfer magazine. 

I will make a concerted effort to try and locate that article – just in order to satisfy my own curiosity and see if this cover and the article I have in mind do belong together. If it does, I’ll certainly scan the article and add the pages to this post. But in the meantime, a good reason to enjoy this super cover photo.       

Below: Affluent Golfer Magazine cover, date unknown

Below: The more commonly seen Architectural Digest Magazine from March, 2005

Below: An alternative shot taken from the Architectural Digest photo session

RARE Interview from SHOW Magazine February 1970 on location during The Warriors

RARE Interview from SHOW Magazine February 1970 on location during The Warriors

I was going through some material this morning and came across this very rare article from the U.S. Magazine SHOW dated February 1970. It's an interview with Clint by Ann Guerin and took place in Yugoslavia during the filming of Clint's latest movie, The Warriors. Of course, The Warriors turned out to be Kelly's Heroes. Due to the oversized format of the magazine pages, I have broken them down into panels for scanning purposes as well as the photos (taken by Photographer Lawrence Schiller). The article I have are the pages only, and was therefore without a cover. However, I did manage to find a good stock photo of this issue cover which I have also included here. The cover features the lovely Jenny Hanley who was at the time filming The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes where she famously appeared as a prostitute, only to have her appearance cut from the finished film. 

The Good, the Bad and the Very expensive…

The Good, the Bad and the Very expensive…

This summer marks 7 years since Peter Hanley’s stunning book, Behind-the-scenes of Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly hit the shelves. At 420 pages of sheer goodness, it was certainly worth the long wait. But it was something of a shock when my friend Davy Triumph pointed this one out, currently up for sale on Ebay, it’s a fantastic achievement by Peter Hanley - but with a Buy Now price at £2,400.00 - has the world gone a little crazy? One thing’s for sure, I’m certainly pleased I got mine when I did. 

Clint and the Serbian comic book market

Clint and the Serbian comic book market

A bit of background: Serbian comics are comics produced in Serbia. Comics are called stripovi in Serbian (singular strip) and come in all shapes and sizes, merging influences from American comics to bandes dessinées.

Comics started developing in Serbia in the late 19th century, mostly in humour and children's magazines. From the 1920s to the end of the 1980s, Serbian comics were part of the larger Yugoslavian comic scene; a large number of titles was published from 1932 to 1991, mainly in Serbo-Croatian language. After the breakup of Yugoslavia and the crisis in the 1990s, Serbian comics have experienced something of a revival.

This post came about after something of an accidental discovery during a random search – the subject of which I can’t even remember now?  But as I explored deeper, it became apparent that Clint’s image appeared quite a bit, especially between the 1971-1999 period. Clint in comic form is probably most associated with the Dell Rawhide comics which were based on the TV series, with the first issue being published in Sept./Nov. 1959. From there on, it was the odd humorous publication such as Mad or Crazy magazine where the Eastwood character was largely lampooned. 

These ex-Yugoslavian comics, as far as I am aware (I do not own any), did not feature an adaptation of an Eastwood western film, but instead just used his image in order to help sell the comic book. I believe these comics also ranged from between 60-70 pages each. Looking at the Doc Holliday comic - you may even spot James Garner's image has been added too. And it wasn’t just the western genre where Clint’s image was utilised, as the bottom example shows – an image of Clint with Susan Clark from Coogan’s Bluff was used for the cover of a romantic comic! It takes all sorts!     

Below: A couple of Dirty Harry inspired comics

Below: MISTERIJI #19 1994 Vintage CROATIAN CRIME COMIC

Below: TRAG #175 1981 Vintage YUGOSLAVIAN CRIME COMIC

Cinema of the '70s Magazine: Issue 8

Cinema of the '70s Magazine: Issue 8

I’d just like to shamelessly plug the latest edition of ‘Cinema of the '70s’ Magazine published by a couple of dear friends of mine Dawn and Jonathon Dabell. Dawn and Jonathon are both talented and dedicated writers and share the love of 70’s cinema. 

Their eighth edition contains the regular 100 pages and features pieces by professional writers like John Harrison, Stephen Mosley and Steven West. The full contents are: The Spy Who Loved Me by Stephen Mosley; When Disaster Movies Ruled the World - Surviving a Decade of Cinematic Mass Destruction by John Harrison; The Big Bus by Peter Sawford; Sorcerer by Darren Linder; The Grissom Gang by David Flack; Dark Places - Dark in places yet cosily familiar by Ian Taylor; Open Season by Dawn Dabell; Death Wish by Steven West; Woody Allen's '70 - A Decade of Creative Evolution by Brian Gregory; Devil Children - The Representation of Children in Horror Movies in the 1970s by Kev Hurst; Dyin' Ain't Much of a Livin' - The Outlaw Josey Wales by James Lecky; The Midnight Man - An Adult Motion Picture by Dr. Andrew C. Webber; The Family as a Nation - The Ceremony by Bryan C. Kuriawa; The Wild Geese by Simon J. Ballard; Beyond the Call of Friendship - Milos Forman's Hair by Rachel Bellwoar; Mannaja by Joe Secrett; Star Crash by Kevin Nickelson; Norma Rae by Jonathon Dabell. The magazine (which is more like a book complete with flat spine), is again full colour throughout and this time around features a great cover shot of Clint from The Outlaw Josey Wales.

Excellent work as always guys!

You can check out this edition along with their other publications HERE

UK Boys comic Valiant 12th January 1974

UK Boys comic Valiant 12th January 1974

Here’s a nice little collectable that I discovered and managed to secure late last year. I’ve been meaning to scan it ever since. This is the January 12th, 1974 issue of the UK Boys comic, Valiant. The comic ran from 4th October 1962 – 16th October 1976 with a total of 712 issues published. I was eager to grab it, wondering what it contained inside. However, it ended up contained nothing other than the quiz question set on the front of the comic, with the answer tucked away on the pages inside. Nevertheless, I wasn’t disappointed, it was great to see the whole front cover practically dedicated to the man with no name character from Leone’s Dollar trilogy – and some 10 years after the film was made. I suppose if anything, it still illustrated that the character was continuing to find a place within popular culture.  

New: "Pod Casty for Me" Podcasts

New: Pod Casty for Me Podcasts

Just this weekend I stumbled across these series of Podcasts which began back in January. The shows are (in their own words) left politics and culture podcast about the films of Clint Eastwood, one movie per episode. The shows are hosted by Jake Serwin & Ian Rhine and are an entertaining listen. Don’t expect an in-depth analysis, jokes are plentiful, but they’ve clearly done some good research and formed an enjoyable overview. For newbies, it’s a nice and relaxed way to learn about the movies and take in a good bit of background information. I’ve listened to three of them today and really enjoyed the banter. 

There is an introduction post, a 16 minute ‘Clintroduction’ as the boys call it, which sets out their goal – which is to cover every film Clint has directed or both starred and directed in from thereon.

 

The Downside of this of course, means that there will be no shows featuring the classics between A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and Clint’s directorial debut, Play Misty for Me (1971) and that’s a shame. 

The Podcasts can often last over 2 hours, but be warned, sometimes the banter and non-relevant chat  can last some 40 minutes - before the guys even begin to chat about the featured movie. So, you may find yourself reaching for the slider bar and cutting to the real juice of the show. 

Well worth giving it a go HERE

Design me a Poster, The Outlaw Josey Wales, from Camera to concept

Design me a Poster, The Outlaw Josey Wales, from Camera to concept

The late designer Bill Gold had enjoyed a long relationship with Clint, which began with Dirty Harry  (1971), and lasted until J.Edgar (2011). Whilst the posters are often credited to Bill Gold, in most instances there is usually a fine artistic team behind both the concept and the canvas. Taking one of Clint’s most icon film posters, The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), the Archive takes a little look at the creative process and the team behind it.

Bill Gold

Bill Gold began his professional design career in 1941, in the advertising department of Warner Bros. His first poster was for the James Cagney musical feature film Yankee Doodle Dandy in 1942, followed soon after by the poster for Casablanca. He was then drafted into the US Army where he was involved in the production of training films. Following his discharge in 1946, he resumed his career designing posters for Warner Bros. where he became head of poster design in 1947. In 1994 Bill was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from The Hollywood Reporter. Richard Benjamin was the MC for the ceremony at the Directors Guild, and Clint Eastwood presented the award to Bill Gold on behalf of The Hollywood Reporter. Bill retired in 2003. A limited-edition, oversized one-volume retrospective was published in January 2011 in coordination with his 90th birthday. The same year, Gold came out of retirement when he agreed to create posters for Clint's film, J. Edgar. Bill Gold died on 20th May 2018, aged 97, at Greenwich Hospital from complications of Alzheimer's disease.

Charlie Gold

In 1959 his brother Charlie joined him in the business, and they formed BG Charles to do the film trailers and work as photographer. Charlie operated BG Charles in Los Angeles, while Bill operated in New York City. In 1987, Charlie left the business and retired to Vermont. Charlie Gold died at age 75 on December 25th, 2003.

Below: A couple of the rare photos taken for the Josey Wales publicity campaign 

Roy Andersen

Roy was born in Chicago in 1930 and was known as a western painter. He was known for his paintings of Crow, Cheyenne, and Apache Indians. He began his career living in Chicago and New York and working as an illustrator. He did numerous covers for Time Magazine including portraits of Albert Einstein and Prince Fahd. He also did illustrations for National Geographic magazine, and did a stamp series on Dogs and American Horses, and in 1984 and 1985, won Stamp of the Year Award. As a muralist, he has filled commissions for the National Park Service, the Royal Saudi Naval Headquarters, and the E.E. Fogelson Visitor Centre at Pecos National Monument in New Mexico.

To pursue his talent for painting, Roy Anderson went West, living in Arizona and settling in Cave Creek. In 1990, he was voted official artist for Scottsdale's Parada del Sol, the "world's largest" horse-drawn parade commemorating the Old West.

Andersen grew up on an apple farm in New Hampshire and learned about Indian customs from his many hours spent at the Chicago Museum of Natural History. He is meticulous about being historically accurate in his paintings. Of him it was written: "There are no 'happy accidents' in an Andersen painting. He has a knowledge of his subject that is attained only through extensive research. You will not find an Apache medicine bag around a Sioux warrior's neck nor a Cheyenne carrying a rifle that is a bit too 'modern'. What you will see is accuracy, an almost uncanny sense of composition and colour harmony and a strength of drawing that is remarkable. "

His training is from the Chicago Academy of Fine Art and the Art Center School of Los Angeles.

Influenced by a cowboy uncle from Nebraska, he often painted cowboy scenes that his art teachers said were passe. For thirty years, he was an illustrator for National Geographic, Time magazine and Sports Illustrated and lived in New York and Chicago.

Later in his life he moved and lived in Arizona and Texas. In 1989, he was voted membership into the Cowboy Artists of America, a group from whom he has received many awards. He did a variety of commissioned work, a notable example being the movie poster for The Outlaw Josey Wales, which he later said was one of his proudest and favourite assignments.  Andersen died on April 25th, 2019. 

Below: Another photo from the sessions taken for the advertising campaign 

Below: The Half Sheet poster design, which was also used on the 60" x 40" and a few photos taken for the Josey Wales advertising campaign - 2 of these photos were used in the artwork concept.

On Josey Wales:

In his 2011 book, Bill Gold spoke about how they achieved the poster designs for The Outlaw Josey Wales:

“When we started out on this campaign, we looked at a couple of shots from the still books of Clint Eastwood standing in his hat holding his guns upright in the foreground, outdoor shots, but I had this idea of having Clint full-face looking straight into the lens – just the head, without a hat – and having him scream and act vicious. My brother Charlie, who was working with Clint on the West Coast, on the trailer and presenting to him what we were doing, he said to me: ‘I don’t know. He doesn’t like to do that… Clint doesn’t like to do grotesque things with his face.’ So I said, ‘Just try and get him to hold the guns close to his head, so it’s like protecting his face, and get him to scream: Yee-ahhh.’ 

Well, the next day, Charlie called me and said, ‘Okay, I got it. After two shots without him screaming, I finally said, ‘Come on, they’re after you. Yell at them. Scream.’ And he finally laughed and said, ‘Okay, I don’t normally do that with my face!’ I loved the photos, but I wanted to make this an illustration because the illustrator – Roy Andersen – could emphasise things the photo doesn’t do, with more of a movement to it. I loved the way it came out. Roy Andersen did Western subjects, so he was tailor-made for it. ‘An army of one.’ That was Dick Lederer or one of the other copywriters at Warners. The other painting – also by Roy Andersen - which has more action and superimposition in it and the horse underneath, was used for the international one sheet. I’m really proud of this Campaign.”  

Below: The 'screaming' Josey one sheet poster. Below that, Three incredible rare photos taken for the Josey campaign and which eventually formed the basis of the iconic artwork.