Internationally wanted fugitive and former automotive executive Carlos Ghosn has reportedly teamed up with Michael Ovitz, founder of Creative Artists Agency and ex-president of Walt Disney, to handle the movie or miniseries that’s definitely going to be made about his flight from Japan.
Ghosn could probably use the money, as he’s accustomed to the finer things in life. He forfeited $15 million in bail money when he skipped town, plus whatever it costs to hire an elite team of mercenaries to smuggle you halfway around the world.
According to Bloomberg, Ovitz is helping evaluate project proposals — meaning they’re probably already receiving extremely juicy offers from reputable studios. We doubt Carlos would take on such a high-profile agent otherwise.
A documentary is bound to happen. There are simply too many questions left unanswered for it not to be a compelling piece of cinema. Ghosn has long stated he was the target of a corporate cleansing (which later spread throughout the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance), but we still don’t know to what extent the Japanese government colluded with Nissan to put him away or what lengths the automaker went to stage the assumed coup. Hell, we don’t even know if he’s innocent. The allegations against him seem sound, as does his claims that the Japanese courts mistreated him.
Of course, that’s all backstory for his daring December escape. Whether the film be documentary or fiction, it’ll definitely build up to his stunning exodus. Frankly, we’re hoping for a heist film in which Ghosn is played by George Clooney. Imagine the scene where he’s finally about to see his wife again, whispering in her ear that daddy’s coming home for the holidays. Then the screen changes to reveal they’re being watched on CCTV by some sinister-looking authority figure. “Not on my watch,” he’ll say, before calling Jean-Dominique Senard (hopefully played by the masterful Charles Dance).
Alright, so maybe the documentary is the best route… even if it runs the risk the third act just being Ghosn hiding in a box. That said, we don’t really expect to get the straight scoop from anybody, regardless of format or medium.
Arrested in Japan in 2018 on charges of financial misconduct and misuse of corporate resources for personal profit, Ghosn is currently out of solitary confinement and lying low in Lebanon. He still contends that he was subjected to a corporate deposition aimed at stopping him from further integrating Nissan with Renault. Meanwhile, Japanese authorities essentially say he stole large sums of money for an extended period of time and want him brought back in order to stand trial.
[Image: Plamen Galabov/Shutterstock]
If he has approval of the script, probably not. Unless it has lots of car chases then maybe.
It does, but its a bunch of Sentras chasing Altimas around a car rental lot.
Actually that could be pretty entertaining.
No no no, Versas and Leafs. It’d be the slowest car chase scene ever; somewhat like the guard getting run over by the steamroller in Austin Powers.
Versas and Leafs… you could do a spoof on the Minis scenes from The Italian Job.
@JimC2: The Versa is glacially slow, but a ’20 leaf can do 0-60 in 6.5 seconds.
@mcs wrote, “@JimC2: The Versa is glacially slow, but a ’20 leaf can do 0-60 in 6.5 seconds.”
This could be used for a really sly “tortoise vs hare” theme or even a subplot.
a Leaf with a degraded battery, then.
@jimc2: The degraded batteries do seem to still exist. I’ve got 96k on a Leaf battery with degradation in the single digits. Still all 12 bars. But, I know of others that have dropped a bar with only 50k. Even with a degraded battery acceleration is still good.
Go with my 19 Sentra rental. Slow that goes beyond mere 0 to 60 slowness. Step on it when your moving and I swear nothing happens other than lots of noise. In one case, all I was trying to do was to go from about 40 to 55. It makes a 2007 Prius seem like a Hellcat. Lots of “OMG I’m gonna die” moments. Maybe a scene where Carlos is trying to escape in a Sentra and Japanese police on bicycles almost catch him. Except that escaping wouldn’t be believable since a cyclist could easily catch one of these things.
Although, the Sentra does have one advantage in an escape. Pull into any hotel parking lot near an airport and you’ll disappear. I’m not kidding. I came out to get the car and I had to use the remote to find the thing.
It would be like the O.J. Simpson movie…I saw it live so why?
Here’s the thing: you didn’t see the Ghosn Great Escape “live”. You don’t even know how it REALLY happened, it’s just rumors. The script is wide open for a mystery-suspense thriller. Who wouldn’t want to see the amazing escape of Leo DiCaprio to return to his wife, Miley Cyrus?
Meh, so long as the opening scenes are set to Warren Zevon’s “Lawyers, Guns and Money” I guess it could work.
I’d love to come up with a soundtrack for this.
But what do I know…I still watch “Beavis and Butt-Head Do America” and “Wayne’s World” on a regular basis.
The movie won’t work unless there are some hot, mostly naked babes in it. Beyond that, Ghosn isn’t really an interesting guy, despite his assurances to the contrary.
The Japanese are going to hate this. Talk about rubbing wasabi in the wound.
Smart public affairs move… a mainstream movie is certainly one good way to get *your* version of the story out into the public mind!
Ghosn may be on a more “permanent vacation” by the time filming starts, so I would anticipate that someone the likes of Tom Cruise will play the role of Ghosn. Or maybe Morgan Freeman.
Either way, I wouldnt support it with my hard earned money. While I remain fairly convinced that Ghosn would not get a fair trial in Japan, I am equally convinced that he has a lot to be scared of when Japan finally get their hands back on him and get him in court (using Nissan money to pay for daughters wedding and college education, etc).
Thankfully, all of this is playing out in the automotive journalist landscape, so I wont need to see a movie in order to see the ending.
“Ghosn may be on a more “permanent vacation” by the time filming starts”
Soundtrack by Aerosmith? Sweeeeeet! Maybe they’ll reboot the album art from Pump but using a couple of Nissans…
I don’t see the Japs ever getting their hands on Ghosn ever again.
Japs? Seriously? Did we just time travel to the 1940’s?
No. I’d be gone in 15 seconds.
Yawn. There are enough businesspeople stealing money in real life. I have no desire to watch a movie about one.
Would You See the Carlos Ghosn Movie? —no. It honestly sounds pretty boring. The absconders walked in, packed him in a box, and then walked out…after he spent however many months in house arrest.
It hardly even qualifies for an America’s Most Wanted- International Addition…
Sure, I’d see it. None of it will be true, so there’s plenty of room for a tinseltown blockbuster.
Who would play Ghosn? George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, or one of the younger guys?
How about Mrs. Ghosn? Would Scarlett Johansson, or Jennifer Lawrence work?
“The movie wasn’t so hot, it didn’t have much of a plot, we fell asleep…”
Okay, we’ll throw in a couple shower scenes.
There is only one person who can play him- Rowan Atkinson.
I second that one. He’d be perfect.
Adam Sandler with Tina Fey as his wife.
It’s too bad Peter Sellers has been dead for 40 years.
Nobody knows for sure how the escape came down, so the way is clear for a slick, action-packed plot, something like Mission:Impossible.
@Lorenzo: Haven’t been following this closely, but read a piece in Pro Sound News about the escape. It related that hired security/ex-special forces soldiers devised the plan which had him on foot with French passport >train to Osaka >hotel where he climbed into a prepared road case (breathing hole drilled on the bottom of the case)>members of the team dressed as road crew moved that case and another holding a loudspeaker onto a private jet at an airport which did not have the capability to x-ray that size of containers >to Lebanon. Is that what has been widely reported? If that is anywhere close to true I can see how it could be made into an interesting movie “based on a true story”. Plenty of places for near escapes and/or other snags making it less than a done deal.
I’d give it a look .
-Nate
If only Nissan had dialed 1-800-Ninja while Ghosn was locked up this movie would be… well, shorter in length.
LOL! I can imagine.
Well wrong place again. It was reply to FerrariLaFerrariFace regarding Altimas chasing Sentras around rental lot.
But I agree that it should not be a documentary. It should be thriller inspired by the “true story”. And I know British actor who will play the role of Carlos Ghosn.
What if it were to be a Michael Bay film?
Explosions! Gratuitous explosions! Sped-up action and CGI! CGI explosions! Sped-up CGI explosions!
” Frankly, we’re hoping for a heist film in which Ghosn
is played by Rowan Sebastian Atkinson, aka – Mr. Bean
Will it be more true-to-life than Ford v Ferrari?
There are others that would be more entertaining…..
Arno Funke aka “Dagobert”
Attila Ambrus “The Whiskey Robber”
Anthony Curcio the Seattle Craigslist Bandit
“Here Today Ghosn Tomorrow” would appeal on the Mission Impossible aspects but it wouldn’t be as fun.
Ghosn With The Wind
I vote Wagner Moura (Pablo Escobar from Netflix’s NARCOS)