Is Clint Eastwood doing another Dirty Harry movie?

Posted Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 1:29 PM Central

by Tim Briscoe

Rumors abound that the Clint Eastwood film titled Gran Torino is actually another in the Dirty Harry series. Harry Knowles' Ain't It Cool News seems to be the source of the speculation.

Warner Bros. recently announced Gran Torino as a fast-tracked project to be directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. No information on the film's plot was given. Variety says the details are "under tantalizingly tight wraps."

Eastwood also has the drama The Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie, coming to theaters from Universal Pictures on Nov. 7. Gran Torino has been slotted for a December release by the studio.

Here is the tip that Knowles posted onto his site Wednesday:

Harry.

Nobody seems to know -- not even the trades -- what Clint Eastwood's new movie, Gran Torino, is... So I'll tell you.

I recently advertised my 1974 ford grand torino classic original for sale in the local here, and within 24 hours had someone from Village Roadshow Pictures interested in having a look at it. He came. He wasn’t interested for numerous reasons (probably the modifications). He told me they were looking for the right car for a new Clint Eastwood movie.

He said it was a thriller about a killer that drives a certain torino. His 1972 Ford Gran Torino is the only thing the police have on him. A retired police lieutenant, one Harry Callahan, makes it his mission to track down the culprit when two young police officers, one Callahan's grandson, are shot and killed by the guy.

Can this be true? Can the soon-to-be 78-year-old Eastwood still wield Harry Callahan's .44 Magnum? The last movie in the series was 20 years ago.

Many film blogs are skeptically reporting this news -- as they should. But consider that Warner Bros. just announced new DVD special editions of the previous five Dirty Harry movies for a June 3 release. This tactic of re-releasing a franchise's films is often one a studio makes when a new movie in the series is to be released.

The movies getting the deluxe treatment are: Dirty Harry (1971), Magnum Force (1973), The Enforcer (1976), Sudden Impact (1983), and The Dead Pool (1988). The movies are also being released as a five movie collection on Blu-ray Disc. Dirty Harry is the only one to be released singularly on Blu-ray.

What do you think? Will Dirty Harry ride again on the big screen?