Release Date: October 24th, 2003 (LA/NY); November 7th, 2003 (select cities)
Video Release Date: March 23rd, 2004
MPAA Rating: R (for strong sexual content, language and some violence)
Distributor: Paramount Classics
Distributor Note: (3/19/02) Icon has a first-look deal with Paramount Pictures, but some of their smaller, less "event" movies, like The Million Dollar Hotel and An Ideal Husband, have been distributed by other companies. (2/10/03) Sure enough, Paramount Classics has picked this film up for a fall, 2003 release.
Production Company: Haft Entertainment (Eulogy, Tigerland), Icon Productions (Mad Max: Fury Road, Paparazzi; Mel Gibson's company; he and Downey have been friends since starring together in Air America)
Cast: Robert Downey, Jr. (Dan Dark, AKA Philip E. Marlow), Robin Wright Penn (Nicola), Mel Gibson (Dr. Gibbon), Carla Gugino, Katie Holmes (Nurse Mills), Jeremy Northam (Mark Binney); other cast not announced yet.
Cast Notes: (3/19/02) Because of his legal and substance-abuse issues, this is Downey's first dramatic film role since 2000's Wonder Boys (he also had a role on TV's Ally McBeal, and appears in Last Party 2000). (12/9/02) I've received word that Katie Holmes also has a role as Downey's nurse.
Director: Keith Gordon (A Midnight Clear, Mother Night, The Chocolate War, Waking the Dead)
Character Name Note:
3/19/02 - The name of the central character in this movie is very similar to Philip Marlowe, the famous detective created by author Raymond Chandler.
Screenwriter: Dennis Potter (R.I.P. 1935-1994, of pancreatic cancer; Gorky Park, Pennies from Heaven, Brimstone and Treacle, Dreamchild, Track 29)
Director Note:
3/19/02 - Before Gordon came aboard, Francois Girard (The Red Violin, 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould) had been signed on to direct.
Based Upon: This is a feature film version of the 1986 BBC six-part TV mini-series of the same title, starring Michael Gambon directed by Jon Amiel (Entrapment, The Core), and also written by Dennis Potter. Potter himself reworked material from *his* first novel, Hide and Seek, in writing the screenplay (much like how the novelist rewrites his first novel).
Premise: As a Chicago novelist (Downey) lays, bedridden and feverish with an extreme case of psioriasis, he reworks the story of his first novel, The Singing Detective, in his mind, becoming the title character himself, who's on pursuit of Nazis in the 1940's... but the battle he's actually waging, of course, is with his own demons. (Penn plays his ex-wife who's a nurse; Gibson plays his psychiatrist; Gugino plays his mother during flashback sequences)
Filming: Production started on April 29th, 2002 in Los Angeles (subbing for Chicago), and wrapped in mid-June, 2002.
Genre: Based on a Book, Historical, Musical, TV Show, Thriller
Festival Profile: Sundance
Official Site: Paramount Classics
Message Board: Share your thoughts on our "The Singing Detective (2003)" Message Board
Input about Greg's Previews of upcoming Movies, or any movie covered here, is encouraged. Just e-mail Greg Dean Schmitz using our feedback form. Please note that all release dates are subject to change.
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2/05/04 - Video Release Date
10/02/03 - Release Date
3/29/03 - Official Site
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6/27/02 - Well, that was relatively quick. Filming has wrapped.
4/22/02 - Carla Gugino (Spy Kids) has signed to play the mother of Downey's character during flashback sequences.
4/18/02 - British actor Jeremy Northam (The Winslow Boy) has also signed on for an unspecified role.
4/04/02 - Variety reports that producer Mel Gibson has signed on for a small role (as Downey's psychiatrist), with Robin Wright Penn also signing on (to play his ex-wife).
3/20/02 - Coincidentally, yesterday was not just when I posted this preview page, but it was also when Robert Downey, Jr. made his latest appearance before a judge about his drug rehabilitation and probation, and he did quite well, getting approval to continue acting and rehab. If he makes it through this year without incident, there's some speculation that the charges against him may be dropped. Robert Downey, Jr. is one of the great acting talents of his generation, so I sincerely hope he can continue working out his problems so we can see him perform through what should be his best years.
Page Created: 3/19/02
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In Theaters 
