Christian Bale eyed to play Travis McGee in The Deep Blue Good-By

July 15th 2014, 7:54pm

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

The iconic Travis McGee is set to have another turn at a film adaptation and Christian Bale is eyeing the literary character. THE DEEP-BLUE GOOD-BY would reteam Bale with his 3:10 TO YUMA director, James Mangold. Leonardo DiCaprio, who is producing, was actually planning to play the McGee role at one point with Oliver Stone directing, now that would have been something to see! Not to take anything away from Bale and Mangold of course, those two are fantastic overachievers.

Travis McGee is a fictional character, created by mystery writer John D. MacDonald. He is neither a police officer nor a licensed private investigator; instead, he is a self-described "salvage consultant" who recovers others' property for a fee. I could totally picture Bale in this role, but then again, I still can't get his AMERICAN HUSTLE belly out of my head. Something tells me McGee won't have that going on.

Published in 1964, it is officially described as follows:

Travis McGee is a self-described beach bum who won his houseboat in a card game. He’s also a knight-errant who’s wary of credit cards, retirement benefits, political parties, mortgages, and television. He only works when his cash runs out, and his rule is simple: He’ll help you find whatever was taken from you, as long as he can keep half.

McGee isn’t particularly strapped for cash, but how can anyone say no to Cathy, a sweet backwoods girl who’s been tortured repeatedly by her manipulative ex-boyfriend Junior Allen? What Travis isn’t anticipating is just how many women Junior has torn apart and left in his wake. Enter Junior’s latest victim, Lois Atkinson.

Frail and broken, Lois can barely get out of bed when Travis finds her, let alone keep herself alive. But Travis turns into Mother McGee, giving Lois new life as he looks for the ruthless man who steals women’s spirits and livelihoods. But he can’t guess how violent his quest is soon to become. He’ll learn the hard way that there must be casualties in this game of cat and mouse.

The McGee series includes an additional 20 novels, which obviously means it’s being considered for a potential franchise for 20th Century Fox. Dennis Lehane, the author of Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone and Shutter Island, wrote the most recent screenplay adaptation which is still in very early stages. We will keep you posted!