The 2010 Boston Teran novel,The Creed of Violencewas supposed to get a big screen adaptation starring Daniel Craig, but since the 2019 announcement, there’s been no news about the project. Whiledevelopment hell is simply a facet of Hollywood, it doesn’t make it any easier when a highly anticipated movie gets mired in the La Brea adjacent tar pits near Hollywood.The Creed of Violenceis an action novel, set in Mexico in 1910, on the eve of the Mexican Revolution. On the Mexican-American border, an assassin, Rawbone, is on a mission.
There was immediate interest in an adaptation of the book, andin 2011, it was announced that Todd Field was attached to write and direct(viaEmpire). Since then, the adaptation has gone through numerous revisions. Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale were both attached at one point, and the film nearly began production in 2013. In 2019,James Bondstar Daniel Craigwas cast as Rawbone, and it looked like the movie was a go (viaCollider). However, since that announcement, there’s been almost no news aboutThe Creed of Violence.
The Creed Of Violence Movie Appears To Be Shelved Indefinitely
Daniel Craig And Todd Field Have Both Been Involved In Other Projects
With almost no news,it can be assumed thatThe Creed of Violencehas been shelved indefinitely. There are a few likely reasons for the adaptation’s cancelation. For one, Craig has had a very busy schedule post-2019. He hadNo Time to Diecome out in 2021 andGlass Onionpremiere in 2022, both of which are franchise movies that he probably agreed to do many years before. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes that came after cannot be understated and likely cooled motivation for the project.
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Todd Field is also not exactly a prolific director.He’s only directed three movies in his lifeand there were 16 years between the release of his latest film,Tár, and the one that came before,Little Children. In a profile for theNew York Times, the paper suggestsThe Creed of Violencehas been permanently shelved. Field does not say anything about the movie, but the fact that the profile of his work on the celebratedTárgives no information aboutThe Creed of Violenceis telling.
The Creed Of Violence Isn’t The Only Unrealized Todd Field Project
Field Chooses To Focus On Quality Over Quantity
Clearly, Field is not interested in making movies as fast as possible. He takes his time and only directs when he’s sure it’s what he wants to do. It’s not the first time one of his projects has been shelved, and his planned adaptations forBlood Meridian,Beautiful Ruins, andPurityhave all fallen through. He also has had other unnamed projects never make it off the runway, including a biopic of the American soldier Bowe Bergdahl who deserted his company, and a political thriller with co-writer Joan Didion calledAs It Happens.
1990s
Field made the short filmNonnie & Alexinstead
Based on a script by his father-in-law, Bo Goldman
2000s
Eventually premiered in 2008 with Sam Mendes as director
Worked on the adaptation for two years before moving on
2010s
Based on Jess Walter’s novel
PurityTV miniseries
Was also set to star Daniel Craig in the lead role
2020s
The Devil in the White CityTV miniseries
Set to star Keanu Reeves
There are many more examples than those, but far from being a list of failures, it’s actually an indicator of how seriously Todd Field takes his work.Each of Field’s films has been nominated for Academy Awards and Golden Globesand has been roundly celebrated by critics and audiences alike. In an industry where the goal seems to be to churn out as much as possible, Todd Field shows with productions likeThe Creed of Violencethat he is willing to be his own man in the industry, cherishing quality over quantity.
