"Ripley Under Ground", an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's second novel featuring the devious Tom Ripley, may never be released according to one of its stars.
According to <a href="http://www.moviehole.net" target="_blank">Moviehole</a> & <em>Hit Magazine</em>, "Batman Begins" star Tom Wilkinson filmed the project a while back and even he thinks it'll never see the light of day - "It doesn't even have a distribution deal and it doesn't look like it will get one, so that's that" says the Oscar-nominated actor.
Directed by Roger Spottiswoode, the blackly comic "Ripley Under Ground" tells of a hot young artist who is killed and a resourceful Ripley (Barry Pepper), livng in London, who covers up the crime and tries to keep the friend's name alive in order to exploit his legacy and reap millions in the process. Alan Cumming, Jacinda Barrett, Claire Forlani, Ian Hart and Willem Dafoe also star.
The assorted film adaptations of the Ripley series have never seen a consistent tone or franchise with each one being handled by different companies, filmmakers, and actors. This has resulted in some confusion, most notably quite a few viewers thinking 2002's "Ripley's Game" was a direct sequel to 1999's "The Talented Mr. Ripley" when in fact the films have absolutely no relation to each other short of the Tom Ripley character. Same goes for "Under Ground" which has no relation to either recent "Ripley" film.
Matt Damon, Dennis Hopper, John Malkovich and Alain Delon have all played the famed role.
Thanks to 'Clint'.
