Tradecraft: Shane Black Returns To Spying

Shane Black was the king of 80s action scripts. Then, after his selling his spy script The Long Kiss Goodnight for a record price, he disappeared for a while, re-emerging a few years ago with his brilliant and hilarious private eye/action spoof, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Now, he's returning to directing--and returning to the spy genre. According to Variety, Black will direct Cold Warrior for Universal. "Based on a script by Chuck Mondry, pic revolves around a spy from the Cold War era who comes out of retirement to team with a younger agent from the new school to confront a domestic terrorism threat orchestrated by Russia." The Cold War spy coming out of retirement seems to be something of a trend in development these days, but Black's experience should give him the edge on the competition. After Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, I await his next project with baited breath.