Trouble Is Their Business

"If my books had been any worse I should not have been invited to Hollywood and if they had been any better I should not have come" - Raymond Chandler.

Clive Owen is to play Philip Marlowe in Frank Miller's film of Trouble Is My Business and the plan is, this will be the start of a series of Chandler adaptations. So, should this be a hit, Owen will be set for a nice string of gigs, though it's by no means guaranteed Miller would be sticking around.

Reporting on the deal, Variety lists various other Miller projects, past and future. Besides 300, Ronin and The Spirit, they remind us that Miller is working on a Sin City sequel. Don't take that as confirmation of anything.

What isn't clear is if the film adapts only the short story Trouble Is My Business or the entire collection of four stories now published under that umbrella title. I'd expect it will only be the one - it's quite involved and could easily fill out a feature film if adapted correctly. There's plenty of Hollywood stuff in this one, and if he fancies getting stuck into such in-jokes, Miller could probably make hay.

You can read an extended excerpt from the beginning of the story at Random House's site.