'Killshot' may miss theaters, hit video

The big-budget movie "Killshot" has been in the can for more than two years. And months after the most recent release date passed, it appears it could be in the tank.

A star of the movie, Thomas Jane, recently told Jim Dorey at the MarketSaw 3d website, that he's not sure the movie will ever appear on a theater screen.

"I did a movie called 'Killshot,' that looks like it's going straight to DVD," Jane told Dorey. "It didn't turn out so hot, I guess."

And other media reports, detailing the financial and legal troubles of executive producer Harvey Weinstein, aren't as optimistic. The movie "is awaiting a release date amid reports it may never see the light of day," Guy Adams reported in the British newspaper the Independent in an article that detailed the flops, lawsuits and financing difficulties facing the producer.

"Killshot," based on an Elmore Leonard novel, was filmed in late 2005 and 2006 and included a five-day shooting schedule in Cape Girardeau in January 2006. Hundreds of film fans turned out to see stars like Diane Lane, Mickey Rourke, Jane and Johnny Knoxville as they filmed scenes of the story about a couple pursued by a mob killer. John Madden, director of "Shakespeare in Love," was the director.

Originally scheduled to debut in October 2006, the date was repeatedly pushed back amid reports of the need to reshoot some scenes. The most recent release date, reported as April 11 by the website imdb.com, the Internet Movie Database, came and went with no movie.

No one at Weinstein's New York headquarters would comment on the record, but one staff member said a reporter was "more than welcome to keep trying back" in an attempt to learn more about the film.

On Elmore Leonard's official website blog, the writer reports that Knoxville's role has been taken out of the movie and that most of the work done in Cape Girardeau did not make the final cut of the film. The blog, which does not appear to be written by Leonard himself, reports that "The movie turned out just fine, even Elmore said so."

On the shots of Cape Girardeau remaining in the final cut, the blog reports: "There are still a few images left. There's a particularly nice beauty shot from the steps of the courthouse."

There is a trailer, which can be viewed on the website YouTube, but the blog said it does not represent the current version of the film.

The bottom line, according to Leonard's blog, is that the film is still most likely to be released directly to video outlets rather than theaters.

"That seems likely but no decision has been released and nobody is talking," Leonard's blog entry concludes.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126

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