Tony Scott, no stranger to hot bodies ('The Hunger,' 'Top Gun,' 'Domino') may be taking on a chorus line of buff men for one of his next projects. Variety reports that the director is attached to a biopic of Steve Banerjee, the man who created the Chippendales phenomenon in the 1980s and later was overcome by excess and paranoia when the male strip clubs became an enormous success.
Lisa Schrager, who wrote the Heidi Fleiss story 'Pay the Girl' for Nicole Kidman at Paramount and 'Gangsta Bitches' at Universal, will take on the Chippendales story, which chronicles Banerjee's rise from a gas station jockey in Culver City to millionaire entrepreneur.
Banerjee's rags-to-riches story epitomized the glamor of the 1980s. He initially bought a struggling L.A. nightclub, bringing in female mud wrestlers and exotic dancers. When he brought in a New York choreography team to design a male strip show for upscale women, his concept took off and the Chippendales chain was born. Women flocked to the "female-only" clubs to see the half-naked men in Las Vegas-style dance routines, making Banerjee and his partners wealthy beyond their dreams. But paranoia soon crept in, and Banerjee was eventually accused of hiring hit men to eliminate an ex-partner and ex-dancers whom he feared would open up a competitive club. He was arrested but was found dead, hanging in his cell, before his trial.
Scott, whose feel for action and violence has resulted in 'True Romance,' 'Enemy of the State,' and 'Deja Vu,' and who is known for amazing flourishes of excess, will be right at home with this outing that will merge sex and crime. No cast has yet been set.
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