Earlier this week we wrote about a new project that director Paul Verhoeven (seen above) is working on (an adaptation of the video game The Last Express), but we weren’t sure if that meant he was ditching his other project The Surrogate. Announced last year, The Surrogate is a thriller about a couple desperate to have a child who find themselves in an unbearable position when they find out the surrogate they hired to carry their baby is insane. Not the most interesting concept, but in the hands of Verhoeven, you never know. MTV ran new quotes from their recent chat with Verhoeven and word is The Surrogate is still in the works.

“That’s still in the works,” Verhoeven told MTV. “Halle Berry is attached to the project and we discussed it all. The question is where do we get the $30 million to do a project that includes a lot of things that have to do with abortion and… surrogate mothers.” Good question, but maybe it’s an early sign that no one wants to invest in this. We don’t want another Showgirls, now do we? While Berry is attached (as of June ‘09) to play the mother/wife, they still haven’t found someone for the husband or the surrogate yet. Verhoeven does also promise this will be “provocative and sexual,” which reminds me of Showgirls again. Speaking of which:

“There are nearly no movies anymore with sex clearly in it,” Verhoeven told MTV. “If you look at what’s there, it’s all PG-13. There is really no R anymore.” The plan is for The Surrogate to change all that.

He’s right – the way we treat sexuality and nudity in movies in the US is shameful. But that doesn’t mean he needs to overdo it to prove a point. Verhoeven’s always been an edgier filmmaker who sometimes takes that sexuality a bit too far (I heard more complaints about that “scene” in Black Book than I did compliments) and, well, I don’t think I need to mention Showgirls again, but I will anyway. Then again, I am usually a fan of Verhoeven’s crazier work, which it sounds like this could be, especially with an “insane” baby mama that Halle Berry has to fight. The Surrogate is in development at Fox through GG Filmz and Winter Road. It’s based on a book of the same name by Kathryn Mackel. We’ll keep you updated on its progress. Thoughts?

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