Two completely different film and TV projects are in the works from guys named Steve McQueen — one is the living Oscar-nominated director of “12 Years a Slave” and the other based on a dream of the late, handsome, tough-guy actor who had his heyday in the 1960s.
The present-day McQueen is directing a pilot called “Codes of Conduct” for HBO. Paul Dano (“Looper,” “Ruby Sparks,” “Little Miss Sunshine”), who appeared in “12 Years a Slave,” has been cast as an eccentric Manhattan insider who helps a young man (played by newcomer Devon Terrell) enter the world of New York high society. Music and entertainment industry mogul Russell Simmons is an executive producer.
As for the “other” Steve McQueen, it’s quite a story. After the actor died in 1980, a 1,700-page treatment for a proposed film called “Yucatan” was discovered in a trunk. The story is about a renegade salvage expert who is on the hunt for Mayan treasure in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.
Robert Downey Jr. is attached to play the lead role McQueen planned for himself — and the actor’s wife and Chicago-area native Susan Downey is on board to produce the film. Steve’s son Chad McQueen is also involved as the proposed film’s executive producer.
