‘The Pinkerton’ is a Supernatural Western Coming from Bad Robot

Warner Bros. signed a huge deal with J.J. Abrams‘s Bad Robot production company – and now they have their first original film project. It’s called The Pinkerton, a supernatural in a Western setting written by Daniel Casey. Casey did a re-write on the Bad Robot-produced 10 Cloverfield Lane, and also wrote the script for Kin and co-wrote the upcoming F9. There’s no word on what the film is actually about, but the Pinkertons were a private security guard and detective agency established in the 1800s, so there’s a good bet the story involves that agency. Or it’s a film all about Weezer’s best album.

THR has the news on The Pinkerton, what little news there is. Per their report, “the project has been described as a supernatural revenge thriller in what sources say is a Western setting,” with a script via Daniel Casey. This is the first original film project from the deal between Bad Robot and Warner Bros. Many studios were vying for Abrams’s attention, and Apple even offered him $500 million. But Abrams and company took a $250 million deal from WarnerMedia instead. Why? Because Apple wanted Abrams to work exclusively for them – meaning the producer and filmmaker couldn’t work with other big studios. And that just didn’t work for the ever-busy Abrams.

I wish I could tell you more about The Pinkerton, but there simply isn’t more to tell. I’m sure someone, somewhere, is already speculating that this was a new Cloverfield movie, but that’s highly unlikely, since Cloverfield is a Paramount title. And besides, after the highly disappointing The Cloverfield Paradox, I have a feeling the Cloverfield brand is dead.

The Pinkerton agency has a rich history – both good and bad – the film can draw on. The agency served as security for Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War (the Secret Service wouldn’t start protecting the president until after Lincoln’s assassination). They also infiltrated unions to bust up potential strikes. And believe it or not, the agency still exists – sort of. They’re now known as Pinkerton Consulting & Investigations, Inc. d.b.a. Pinkerton Corporate Risk Management, a division of the Swedish security company Securitas AB. None of this is likely to be in the movie, but I have to fill this story out somehow, folks.

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