
To direct "The Drop," the producers Peter Chernin, p.g.a. ("Rise of the Planet of the Apes," "Daen of The Planet of the Apes") and Jenno Topping, p.g.a.with executive producers Mike Larocca, M. Blair Breard and Dennis Lehane selected Michaël R. Roskam, a Belgian with one feature film to his credit: "Bullhead," a dark thriller about a brooding and dangerous loner that was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 2011.

The success of Roskam’s first feature was rapidly opening doors for the director in Hollywood, and he gave careful consideration to the choices he was offered. A fan of "Bullhead," Lehane was excited to see Roskam tackle his first American film. “Michaël and I talked a lot about the themes, especially the Catholic themes and the spiritual themes in the film,” he says. “We agreed that it’s an urban fairytale, gritty certainly, but with something more underneath.”
Roskam likewise, is deeply appreciative of Lehane’s approach to working with a director. “He didn’t present the script and say ‘this is what it is and just don’t mess around with it.’ He said, ‘it’s all yours.’ He even allowed me to plot out some scenes, which he then adapted to his style. It’s a very good thing for a director to have a writer like Dennis on his side.”
The drop bar keeps dirty money out of the hands of law enforcement. “It could be bets placed with bookies or massage parlor receipts, anything that brings in money that cannot go on the books,” explains Roskam. “The cash could be evidence and needs to be kept out of the hands of the police. If you always hide it in the same place, it’s just a matter of time before the police find that. They keep it moving, so if the police figure out where they stash the cash, they will always be late.”
Roskam loves that tone. “It’s a pretty dark, gritty story, but it has sunshine in it. The larger themes are very close and inspiring to me. This movie is about a desperate search for innocence in a very complex and rich world.”
The film may deal with dark themes, but it is ultimately an optimistic view of the world, in Topping’s opinion. “At the beginning, there’s a sense of a huge burden from the past and a moment where it seems the past may repeat itself,” she says. “In the end, though, love triumphs.”

"The Drop" opens November 12 in theaters from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.
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