The film adaption of the John D. MacDonald novel The Deep Blue Good-By has taken a rather convoluted path towards the silver screen. Fox got close to deals with both Oliver Stone and Paul Greengrass to direct the film before going after James Mangold (hot off saving The Wolverine from disaster). Initially Leonardo DiCaprio intended to play the part of Travis McGee in the intended franchise but had to pull out for scheduling reasons. He remains onboard as a producer, but now reports have Christian Bale eyeing the lead role (though a formal offer has yet to be made).

Interestingly enough, this isn’t the first time a film has flirted with both Stone and DiCaprio before moving on to Bale (an early version of American Psycho had the pair attached). Now, apparently having passed on True Detective Season 2, Bale is keen on this project as well. Hit the jump for more on Christian Bale possibly joining The Deep Blue Good-By.

In addition to reporting that Bale is in early talks to star, Variety reports that Dennis Lehane (Shutter Island) wrote the most recent draft of the script. As for Bale passing on True Detective? That’s per The Wrap. The Deep Blue Good-By, if a hit, could be paying dividends for years to come. The mystery series spans an impressive 21 books (of which I have read none, perhaps I should check it out).

The True Detective bit is interesting to me. I wonder if Bale passed on the role that eventually went to Colin Farrell or if it was the Taylor Kitsch part. Any bets on which it was?

Here’s a synopsis for the source novel: