Considered by many to be the magnum opus of author Cormac McCarthy – whose works include No Country for Old Men, The Road, All the Pretty Horses, and Child of God, among others – the violent Western Blood Meridian (you can pick up a copy Here) was published in 1985… and in the years since, several filmmakers have made unsuccessful attempts to bring the story to the screen. Adaptations have passed through the hands of Tommy Lee Jones, Ridley Scott, and James Franco, with Franco getting the furthest with it, shooting 25 minutes of test footage before the producer shut down the project. With unrelenting violence and a dark tone, Blood Meridian has been said to be unfilmable. But director John Hillcoat, who previously helmed the feature based on The Road (pictured below), is pushing an adaptation forward at New Regency, and Deadline reports that John Logan, who received Oscar nominations for his work on the scripts for Hugo,...
- 4/24/2024
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
From the exemplary adaptation of No Country for Old Men to the offbeat screenplay for The Counselor, McCarthy’s sparse style lent itself to cinema
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The late and great Cormac McCarthy’s most famous novel is probably The Road, a hauntingly well-written and shattering story of a father and son trekking across a lawless America, wiped out by an unspecified cataclysmic event. Much has been made of the author’s sparse style, which combines poetic and surreal descriptions with lithe plotting and bleakly surreal settings: an appealing combination for a motion picture adaptation.
The Australian director John Hillcoat brought it to the screen in 2009 with a film that impressively translates the book’s heaving sense of sadness, using an anemic palette to evoke the look of a dying, inconsolable world, memorably navigated by Viggo Mortensen (billed as “the Man”) and Kodi Smit-McPhee (“the Boy...
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The late and great Cormac McCarthy’s most famous novel is probably The Road, a hauntingly well-written and shattering story of a father and son trekking across a lawless America, wiped out by an unspecified cataclysmic event. Much has been made of the author’s sparse style, which combines poetic and surreal descriptions with lithe plotting and bleakly surreal settings: an appealing combination for a motion picture adaptation.
The Australian director John Hillcoat brought it to the screen in 2009 with a film that impressively translates the book’s heaving sense of sadness, using an anemic palette to evoke the look of a dying, inconsolable world, memorably navigated by Viggo Mortensen (billed as “the Man”) and Kodi Smit-McPhee (“the Boy...
- 6/14/2023
- by Luke Buckmaster
- The Guardian - Film News
Cormac McCarthy, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist who in prose both dense and brittle took readers from the southern Appalachians to the desert Southwest in such novels as “The Road,” “Blood Meridian” and “All the Pretty Horses,” died Tuesday. He was 89.
Publisher Alfred A. Knopf, a Penguin Random House imprint, announced that McCarthy died of natural causes at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
“For 60 years, he demonstrated an unwavering dedication to his craft, and to exploring the infinite possibilities and power of the written word,” Penguin Random House CEO Nihar Malaviya said in a statement. “Millions of readers around the world embraced his characters, his mythic themes, and the intimate emotional truths he laid bare on every page, in brilliant novels that will remain both timely and timeless, for generations to come.”
McCarthy, raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, was compared to William Faulkner for his expansive, Old Testament style and rural settings.
Publisher Alfred A. Knopf, a Penguin Random House imprint, announced that McCarthy died of natural causes at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
“For 60 years, he demonstrated an unwavering dedication to his craft, and to exploring the infinite possibilities and power of the written word,” Penguin Random House CEO Nihar Malaviya said in a statement. “Millions of readers around the world embraced his characters, his mythic themes, and the intimate emotional truths he laid bare on every page, in brilliant novels that will remain both timely and timeless, for generations to come.”
McCarthy, raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, was compared to William Faulkner for his expansive, Old Testament style and rural settings.
- 6/14/2023
- by Alex Nino Gheciu
- ET Canada
Acclaimed writer Cormac McCarthy is dead at age 89. He died at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, of natural causes, his publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, confirmed to multiple outlets.
McCarthy, who won both a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award, was the author of a long list of celebrated novels that often explored dark and violent themes. He published his first book, The Orchard Keeper, in 1965 and achieved widespread critical acclaim in 1985 with the bleak revisionist Western Blood Merdian in 1985. His other novels include All the Pretty Horses and The Road.
In addition to being a celebrated figure in American literature, McCarthy also made his mark on film. Several Cormac McCarthy novels were adapted into movies, including No Country for Old Men, which won an Academy Award for Best Picture in 2008.
‘All the Pretty Horses’
The first big-screen adaptation of McCarthy’s work was All the Pretty Horses (2000). The movie,...
McCarthy, who won both a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award, was the author of a long list of celebrated novels that often explored dark and violent themes. He published his first book, The Orchard Keeper, in 1965 and achieved widespread critical acclaim in 1985 with the bleak revisionist Western Blood Merdian in 1985. His other novels include All the Pretty Horses and The Road.
In addition to being a celebrated figure in American literature, McCarthy also made his mark on film. Several Cormac McCarthy novels were adapted into movies, including No Country for Old Men, which won an Academy Award for Best Picture in 2008.
‘All the Pretty Horses’
The first big-screen adaptation of McCarthy’s work was All the Pretty Horses (2000). The movie,...
- 6/14/2023
- by Megan Elliott
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
One of the giants of contemporary literature is no more. Deadline is reporting that Cormac McCarthy, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of No Country for Old Men and The Road, has died at 89. No specific cause of death other than natural causes has been revealed. McCarthy was one of a kind, being considered by many as one of the finest living Western authors. His books, which adopt a spare yet poetic prose, are all unified by the theme of a violent, sometimes contemporary (and sometimes not) West, as depicted perhaps most famously in No Country for Old Men. That was adapted into a stunning film by Joel and Ethan Coen. McCarthy’s apocalyptic novel, The Road, was turned into another great film by John Hillcoat (starring Viggo Mortensen). At the same time, he also wrote the screenplay for the divisive Ridley Scott film, The Counselor.
McCarthy kept busy until the end,...
McCarthy kept busy until the end,...
- 6/13/2023
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
Actor and author were 71 and 89, respectively.
Hollywood is mourning the loss of two figures who have earned acclaim over the decades following the death in a road accident of the actor Treat Williams, 71, and the passing of No Country For Old Men author Cormac McCarthy aged 89.
According to reports Williams, who starred in Everwood and Hair, died on Monday afternoon after an incident involving his motorcycle and a car in Dorset, Vermont.
Besides a recurring role in the WB series Everwood, Williams’ screen credits include Hair for Milos Forman and 1941 for Steven Spielberg, both in 1979; Sidney Lumet’s Prince Of The City...
Hollywood is mourning the loss of two figures who have earned acclaim over the decades following the death in a road accident of the actor Treat Williams, 71, and the passing of No Country For Old Men author Cormac McCarthy aged 89.
According to reports Williams, who starred in Everwood and Hair, died on Monday afternoon after an incident involving his motorcycle and a car in Dorset, Vermont.
Besides a recurring role in the WB series Everwood, Williams’ screen credits include Hair for Milos Forman and 1941 for Steven Spielberg, both in 1979; Sidney Lumet’s Prince Of The City...
- 6/13/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Cormac McCarthy, the celebrated novelist known for his stunning, apocalyptic visions of the American West, died Tuesday, June 13. He was 89.
McCarthy’s publisher, Penguin Random House, confirmed his death in a statement, according to The Washington Post. A cause of death was not given.
McCarthy’s work was often bleak and brutal, his style of writing blunt and ceaseless with little use for punctuation. He published 12 novels through his nearly six-decade career, and is best known for Blood Meridian and The Border Trilogy (released over the course of the Nineties...
McCarthy’s publisher, Penguin Random House, confirmed his death in a statement, according to The Washington Post. A cause of death was not given.
McCarthy’s work was often bleak and brutal, his style of writing blunt and ceaseless with little use for punctuation. He published 12 novels through his nearly six-decade career, and is best known for Blood Meridian and The Border Trilogy (released over the course of the Nineties...
- 6/13/2023
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Cormac McCarthy, generally considered one of America’s greatest living authors, has died. His death was confirmed by his son, John McCarthy. He was 89.
McCarthy is best known for books such as Blood Meridian or The Evening Redness in the West; The Road, which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and No Country For Old Men, which was adapted into the Coen Brothers’ Oscar-winning film.
His other published works include The Orchard Keeper, Outer Dark, Child of Dark, Suttree, All the Pretty Horses – which won the National Book Award – The Crossing and Cities of the Plain. All the Pretty Horses, The Road and No Country were adapted for film by Billy Bob Thornton, John Hillcoat and Joel and Ethan Coen, respectively.
McCarthy told the Wall Street Journal that No Country for Old Men was originally a screenplay, but failed to gain traction in that form. “In fact, they said, ‘That will never work.
McCarthy is best known for books such as Blood Meridian or The Evening Redness in the West; The Road, which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and No Country For Old Men, which was adapted into the Coen Brothers’ Oscar-winning film.
His other published works include The Orchard Keeper, Outer Dark, Child of Dark, Suttree, All the Pretty Horses – which won the National Book Award – The Crossing and Cities of the Plain. All the Pretty Horses, The Road and No Country were adapted for film by Billy Bob Thornton, John Hillcoat and Joel and Ethan Coen, respectively.
McCarthy told the Wall Street Journal that No Country for Old Men was originally a screenplay, but failed to gain traction in that form. “In fact, they said, ‘That will never work.
- 6/13/2023
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
Cormac McCarthy, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist who endured decades of obscurity and poverty before film versions of “All the Pretty Horses,” “No Country for Old Men” and “The Road” brought him a wide readership and financial security, died Tuesday in Santa Fe, N.M. His publisher, Penguin Random House, said his son John McCarthy announced his death from natural causes. He was 89.
Extremely reclusive, McCarthy shunned publicity so effectively that one critic observed, “He wasn’t even famous for it.” But Joel and Ethan Coen’s 2008 adaptation of 2005 novel “No Country for Old Men” put him momentarily in the limelight; the crime thriller, which starred Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin, won Oscars for best picture, director, adapted screenplay and supporting actor.
While McCarthy’s first novel, “The Orchard Keeper,” was published in 1965, commercial success eluded him until his 1992 National Book Award-winning “All the Pretty Horses” and the...
Extremely reclusive, McCarthy shunned publicity so effectively that one critic observed, “He wasn’t even famous for it.” But Joel and Ethan Coen’s 2008 adaptation of 2005 novel “No Country for Old Men” put him momentarily in the limelight; the crime thriller, which starred Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin, won Oscars for best picture, director, adapted screenplay and supporting actor.
While McCarthy’s first novel, “The Orchard Keeper,” was published in 1965, commercial success eluded him until his 1992 National Book Award-winning “All the Pretty Horses” and the...
- 6/13/2023
- by Carmel Dagan
- Variety Film + TV
Cormac McCarthy, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author whose searing novel No Country for Old Men served as the foundation for the Coen brothers’ 2007 film that earned Oscars for best picture, supporting actor, directing and adapted screenplay, has died. He was 89.
McCarthy died Tuesday of natural causes at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, his publisher, Knopf, announced.
Known for his crisp prose, foreboding view of humanity, uncompromising approach to death and violence — and rebellion against quote marks and semicolons — McCarthy was celebrated as one of the leading American authors of his time.
“He is the great pessimist of American literature, using his dervish sentences to illuminate a world in which almost everything (including punctuation) has already come to dust,” Tim Adams wrote in a 2009 profile for The Guardian. “He once argued that he could see no point at all in literature that did not dwell on death. His touchstones are...
McCarthy died Tuesday of natural causes at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, his publisher, Knopf, announced.
Known for his crisp prose, foreboding view of humanity, uncompromising approach to death and violence — and rebellion against quote marks and semicolons — McCarthy was celebrated as one of the leading American authors of his time.
“He is the great pessimist of American literature, using his dervish sentences to illuminate a world in which almost everything (including punctuation) has already come to dust,” Tim Adams wrote in a 2009 profile for The Guardian. “He once argued that he could see no point at all in literature that did not dwell on death. His touchstones are...
- 6/13/2023
- by Chris Koseluk
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Beatles‘ The White Album has several connections to the Manson Family. For example, the cult thought The Beatles’ “Sexy Sadie” was about one of its members. Subsequently, the member in question discussed what another tune from The White Album meant to Charles Manson and his followers.
Charles Manson | Bettmann / Contributor ‘Sexy Sadie’ from The Beatles’ ‘The White Album’ fed the delusions of the Manson Family
Susan Atkins was a member of the Manson family. According to the book Helter Skelter, Manson gave Atkins the nickname “Sexy Sadie” long before The Beatles released a song with that title on The White Album. When Manson’s “family” heard The White Album, they thought “Sexy Sadie” proved their leader had a mental connection to the Fab Four.
In her 2005 book Child of Satan, Child of God, Atkins discussed The White Album at length. “Charlie obtained The Beatles’ so-called White Album in late 1968,” she wrote.
Charles Manson | Bettmann / Contributor ‘Sexy Sadie’ from The Beatles’ ‘The White Album’ fed the delusions of the Manson Family
Susan Atkins was a member of the Manson family. According to the book Helter Skelter, Manson gave Atkins the nickname “Sexy Sadie” long before The Beatles released a song with that title on The White Album. When Manson’s “family” heard The White Album, they thought “Sexy Sadie” proved their leader had a mental connection to the Fab Four.
In her 2005 book Child of Satan, Child of God, Atkins discussed The White Album at length. “Charlie obtained The Beatles’ so-called White Album in late 1968,” she wrote.
- 6/1/2023
- by Matthew Trzcinski
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
One of the most beloved novels from the author behind “The Road” and “No Country For Old Men” is finally getting its own screen adaptation. A film version of Cormac McCarthy‘s “Blood Meridian” is in the works at New Regency, sources confirmed to IndieWire.
First published in 1985, “Blood Meridian” is set in the 1850s and focuses on an unnamed teenager known only as “the kid” as he journeys across the American West and falls in with the Glanton gang, a real-life group of scalp hunters who targeted Indians along the Texas-Mexico border. The book initially received mixed reviews and lukewarm sales but has since been reevaluated as a classic and a subversive work in the Western genre.
Despite the novel’s fame, it has a reputation for being unfilmable due to its graphic content, dark tone, and introspective narrative. Several attempts to adapt the book have already been tried,...
First published in 1985, “Blood Meridian” is set in the 1850s and focuses on an unnamed teenager known only as “the kid” as he journeys across the American West and falls in with the Glanton gang, a real-life group of scalp hunters who targeted Indians along the Texas-Mexico border. The book initially received mixed reviews and lukewarm sales but has since been reevaluated as a classic and a subversive work in the Western genre.
Despite the novel’s fame, it has a reputation for being unfilmable due to its graphic content, dark tone, and introspective narrative. Several attempts to adapt the book have already been tried,...
- 4/28/2023
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Shudder Releases First Clip for Acclaimed Southern Gothic Horror What Josiah Saw Ahead of Next Week’s Premiere Directed by Vincent Grashaw and starring Robert Patrick (The Terminator), Nick Stahl (Sin City), Scott Haze (Child Of God) and Kelli Garner (Lars And The Real Girl) Streams Exclusively on Shudder Thursday, August 4 Available on Shudder U.S., …
The post Shudder Releases First Clip for Acclaimed Southern Gothic Horror What Josiah Saw Ahead of Next Week’s Premiere appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.
The post Shudder Releases First Clip for Acclaimed Southern Gothic Horror What Josiah Saw Ahead of Next Week’s Premiere appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.
- 8/27/2022
- by Adrian Halen
- Horror News
We might be in the mid-August, dog days of summer, but horror season is just around the corner. Spirit Halloween stores have popped up and are open, Pumpkin Spice Latte are back in shops and grocery stores and on Shudder, the 31 days of Halloween have become the 61 days of Halloween
For horror fans it’s never too early for the spooky season and with that comes these movies to check out on Shudder.
Streaming now – What Josiah Saw.
The southern gothic horror movie stars Robert Patrick (The Terminator), Nick Stahl (Sin City), Scott Haze (Child Of God) and Kelli Garner (Lars And The Real Girl)
The film is the third feature from American filmmaker Vincent Grashaw and world premiered to high praise at the 2021 Fantasia Film Festival and went on to win awards at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, Fantaspoa International Fantastic Film Festival, Screamfest, and more.
After two decades,...
For horror fans it’s never too early for the spooky season and with that comes these movies to check out on Shudder.
Streaming now – What Josiah Saw.
The southern gothic horror movie stars Robert Patrick (The Terminator), Nick Stahl (Sin City), Scott Haze (Child Of God) and Kelli Garner (Lars And The Real Girl)
The film is the third feature from American filmmaker Vincent Grashaw and world premiered to high praise at the 2021 Fantasia Film Festival and went on to win awards at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, Fantaspoa International Fantastic Film Festival, Screamfest, and more.
After two decades,...
- 8/17/2022
- by Michelle Hannett
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Chance the Rapper and Joey Bada brought their introspective track “The Highs and the Lows” to The Tonight Show Monday, delivering an artistic performance of the collaborative single, complete with superimposed lyrics and onstage lo-fi footage filmed on a handheld camera.
The rappers debuted the song — which deals with the stresses of domesticity and navigating difficult emotions — at Art Basel in Switzerland last month, accompanied by a short film produced in France and Italy produced by Yannis Davy Guibinga. It marked the second time the two have joined forces, following...
The rappers debuted the song — which deals with the stresses of domesticity and navigating difficult emotions — at Art Basel in Switzerland last month, accompanied by a short film produced in France and Italy produced by Yannis Davy Guibinga. It marked the second time the two have joined forces, following...
- 8/2/2022
- by Kat Bouza
- Rollingstone.com
Chance the Rapper appeared on The Late Show to offer an artistic performance of his song “Child of God.” Appearing with a small orchestra and several back-up singers, the rapper showcased the evocative track seated in front of a large painting by artist Naila Opiangah as the lyrics popped up on the screen.
Prior to the performance, the rapper sat down with host Stephen Colbert to discuss his collaboration with Opiangah, who he met while visiting Ghana. “We started to realize how many similarities and parallels that there are in...
Prior to the performance, the rapper sat down with host Stephen Colbert to discuss his collaboration with Opiangah, who he met while visiting Ghana. “We started to realize how many similarities and parallels that there are in...
- 4/12/2022
- by Emily Zemler
- Rollingstone.com
Exclusive: HBO Max has acquired streaming rights to the family film Brie‘s Bake Off Challenge, from writer-director Emily Aguilar, for release today.
The story follows Brie Hayes (Devyn Leah), an aspiring 12-year-old baker who does everything she can to win first place in her school’s annual Spring Bake Off Challenge. Brie and her Bffl Millie (Mallory Vertman) must practice and motivate each other in order to win. On top of the actual baking challenges, Brie faces her “archnemesis” and bully, Vanessa Weiler (Delaney Disque), who also wants to win first place. Pressures and tensions rise as the stakes get higher and Vanessa’s crush, Jody (Camden Zapf), is also competing to win. The winner of the Spring Bake Off Challenge will win a whopping 5,000 and tickets to Cosmo Land.
Emily’s Bake Off Challenge also stars Stefannie Smith, Pry’ce Jaymes, Isaiah Givens, Sandy Lisiewski, Tony Amante, Adam Cooley,...
The story follows Brie Hayes (Devyn Leah), an aspiring 12-year-old baker who does everything she can to win first place in her school’s annual Spring Bake Off Challenge. Brie and her Bffl Millie (Mallory Vertman) must practice and motivate each other in order to win. On top of the actual baking challenges, Brie faces her “archnemesis” and bully, Vanessa Weiler (Delaney Disque), who also wants to win first place. Pressures and tensions rise as the stakes get higher and Vanessa’s crush, Jody (Camden Zapf), is also competing to win. The winner of the Spring Bake Off Challenge will win a whopping 5,000 and tickets to Cosmo Land.
Emily’s Bake Off Challenge also stars Stefannie Smith, Pry’ce Jaymes, Isaiah Givens, Sandy Lisiewski, Tony Amante, Adam Cooley,...
- 4/1/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
At the top of the year, Chance the Rapper seemed to be having the time of his life in Accra, Ghana. On Instagram, he posted his treks around the city and the woods, posed in front of incredible architecture, and even sat down with the country’s president. “I have so much to share with you, brothers and sisters,” he wrote in one caption. Chance has now released a single born of this formative trip — one that’s as much an experience as it is a song.
“Child of God,...
“Child of God,...
- 3/25/2022
- by Mankaprr Conteh
- Rollingstone.com
Flying largely under the radar, startup shingle Randomix Productions has shared in exclusivity a clip to Southern Gothic horror movie “What Josiah Saw,” one of the titles with the highest-profile star casts at Fantasia: Robert Patrick (“The Terminator”), Nick Stahl (“Sin City”), Scott Haze (“Child of God”) and Kelli Garner (“Lars and the Real Girl”).
“What Josiah Saw” also marks the third feature from Vincent Grashaw, whose intimate study of adolescent ordeal, “And Then I Go,” was picked up for U.S. distribution by The Orchard.
On “What Josiah Saw,” CAA represents North America sales rights.
Structured into chapters – the first is set at Graham Farm on Willow Road, the second follows dissolute Eli, dispatched to a Romani encampment to steal its Nazi gold – the film turns on the estranged Graham family and a past that won’t go away.
Only Josiah (Patrick), the brutal, whisky-guzzling patriarch and Thomas (Haze), his cowed son,...
“What Josiah Saw” also marks the third feature from Vincent Grashaw, whose intimate study of adolescent ordeal, “And Then I Go,” was picked up for U.S. distribution by The Orchard.
On “What Josiah Saw,” CAA represents North America sales rights.
Structured into chapters – the first is set at Graham Farm on Willow Road, the second follows dissolute Eli, dispatched to a Romani encampment to steal its Nazi gold – the film turns on the estranged Graham family and a past that won’t go away.
Only Josiah (Patrick), the brutal, whisky-guzzling patriarch and Thomas (Haze), his cowed son,...
- 8/10/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Adam Goldberg is the latest to board the Miramax supernatural thriller The Georgetown Project written and directed by Joshua John Miller and M.A. Fortin. The film is currently in production in Wilmington N.C.
Goldberg joins Academy Award-winning actor Russell Crowe as well as previously announced cast members Ryan Simpkins (Revolutionary Road), Chloe Bailey (Grown-ish), Sam Worthington (Avatar) and David Hyde Pierce (Frasier). The film follows Lee Miller (Simpkins), daughter of Anthony Miller (Crowe), a troubled actor who begins to unravel while filming a supernatural horror movie. Specific details about the film are being kept under wraps.
Kevin Williamson is producing through his Outerbanks banner, along with Head of Production, Ben Fast. Bill Block produces for Miramax.
Goldberg is repped by Luber Roklin Entertainment and attorney Matt Rosen.
Scott Haze has joined Luke Wilson, Vinessa Shaw and Wayne Knight for 12 Mighty Orphans. Directed by Ty Roberts,...
Goldberg joins Academy Award-winning actor Russell Crowe as well as previously announced cast members Ryan Simpkins (Revolutionary Road), Chloe Bailey (Grown-ish), Sam Worthington (Avatar) and David Hyde Pierce (Frasier). The film follows Lee Miller (Simpkins), daughter of Anthony Miller (Crowe), a troubled actor who begins to unravel while filming a supernatural horror movie. Specific details about the film are being kept under wraps.
Kevin Williamson is producing through his Outerbanks banner, along with Head of Production, Ben Fast. Bill Block produces for Miramax.
Goldberg is repped by Luber Roklin Entertainment and attorney Matt Rosen.
Scott Haze has joined Luke Wilson, Vinessa Shaw and Wayne Knight for 12 Mighty Orphans. Directed by Ty Roberts,...
- 11/18/2019
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
It was just two years ago that James Franco was enjoying critical acclaim and a Golden Globe for “The Disaster Artist”; but the actor and filmmaker’s latest film, “Zeroville,” has resulted in him hitting a new box office low.
While Franco has had plenty of mainstream success with films like “Pineapple Express” and the original “Spider-Man” trilogy, much of his recent filmography has turned to starring in and directing arthouse films that are released by niche distributors on a very small number of screens for less than a month. Aside from “The Disaster Artist,” the five other films directed by Franco, including “Zeroville,” have grossed less than $30,000 and have never had a release wider than 100 screens.
Also Read: Simon Kinberg Blames Himself for 'Dark Phoenix' Box Office Bomb
And of these films, “Zeroville” has had the lowest per screen average of any of them. According to data from comScore,...
While Franco has had plenty of mainstream success with films like “Pineapple Express” and the original “Spider-Man” trilogy, much of his recent filmography has turned to starring in and directing arthouse films that are released by niche distributors on a very small number of screens for less than a month. Aside from “The Disaster Artist,” the five other films directed by Franco, including “Zeroville,” have grossed less than $30,000 and have never had a release wider than 100 screens.
Also Read: Simon Kinberg Blames Himself for 'Dark Phoenix' Box Office Bomb
And of these films, “Zeroville” has had the lowest per screen average of any of them. According to data from comScore,...
- 10/1/2019
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
I’m tired of hearing how some novels are “impossible to adapt.” Balderdash! Just because some books don’t lend themselves to being translated from page to screen doesn’t mean that the attempt ought not to be made. Just ask James Franco, who’s shown a speed freak’s determination to tackle some of the unlikeliest literary adaptations of the last decade, from William Faulkner to John Steinbeck (“In Dubious Battle”) to Cormac McCarthy (“Child of God”). Frankly, he’s not very good at it, but that doesn’t stop him. Nor should it. Even Franco’s failures are fascinating, like asymmetrical pottery-wheel mishaps that wouldn’t passs for a vase, but wind up looking like modern art.
From the moment of its publication in 2007, Steve Erickson’s postmodern showbiz satire “Zeroville” was widely described as “unfilmable” — which was like waving a red flag in front of Franco. Truth be told,...
From the moment of its publication in 2007, Steve Erickson’s postmodern showbiz satire “Zeroville” was widely described as “unfilmable” — which was like waving a red flag in front of Franco. Truth be told,...
- 9/20/2019
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
You may recall, dear reader, that in the years preceding “The Disaster Artist” James Franco was writing and directing films at a breakneck pace — “As I Lay Dying,” “Child of God,” “The Sound and the Fury,” and “In Dubious Battle” all premiered within a three-year span. So did “Zeroville,” a comedy based on Steve Erickson’s novel of the same name, but because it was acquired by Alchemy — the ill-fated distributor that went out of business mere months after picking up the film — it has yet to receive a theatrical release.
Until now, that is, as myCinema appears to have saved “Zeroville” from limbo. The company is based online but partners with some 500 theaters that have the option of licensing its films — like “The Chaperone,” written by “Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes — for traditional brick-and-mortar releases.
Here’s the (rather lengthy) synopsis:
Join Vikar (James Franco), a wide-eyed innocent in love with the movies,...
Until now, that is, as myCinema appears to have saved “Zeroville” from limbo. The company is based online but partners with some 500 theaters that have the option of licensing its films — like “The Chaperone,” written by “Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes — for traditional brick-and-mortar releases.
Here’s the (rather lengthy) synopsis:
Join Vikar (James Franco), a wide-eyed innocent in love with the movies,...
- 4/1/2019
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Brooklyn Media, the recently launched production banner from civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, has tapped best-selling Child of God author Lolita Files to pen two true-life tales centering on injustice.
Files will first tackle Blue Uniform, Black Skin: The Nakia Jones Story, which tells of a woman who was fired from her job for her social media post which passionately addressed racist cops in an incident involving a black man selling CDs outside a convenience story. The man, Alton Sterling, was shot dead at close range in 2016 by two white Baton Rouge police officers.
The twist is that Jones was a ...
Files will first tackle Blue Uniform, Black Skin: The Nakia Jones Story, which tells of a woman who was fired from her job for her social media post which passionately addressed racist cops in an incident involving a black man selling CDs outside a convenience story. The man, Alton Sterling, was shot dead at close range in 2016 by two white Baton Rouge police officers.
The twist is that Jones was a ...
- 12/17/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
A version of this article about Tim Blake Nelson and “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” first appeared in TheWrap’s Actors/Directors/Screenwriters Oscar magazine.
“I have certainly never put so much time into a role, if you think about the effort in terms of the resulting screen time,” said Tim Blake Nelson, who plays the title role in the new Coen brothers movie “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.”
Nelson is on screen in virtually every frame of the movie’s first 20 minutes as a singing cowboy who also happens to be an ace gunslinger — and then, with the end of the first section of the deliciously dark anthology Western, he disappears, never to be seen again.
But Nelson makes those minutes count, crafting a white-suited, fast-talking, quick-drawing cowpoke for the ages.
Also Read: Netflix Orders True Crime Series on Ted Bundy
The actor said he spent six months learning...
“I have certainly never put so much time into a role, if you think about the effort in terms of the resulting screen time,” said Tim Blake Nelson, who plays the title role in the new Coen brothers movie “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.”
Nelson is on screen in virtually every frame of the movie’s first 20 minutes as a singing cowboy who also happens to be an ace gunslinger — and then, with the end of the first section of the deliciously dark anthology Western, he disappears, never to be seen again.
But Nelson makes those minutes count, crafting a white-suited, fast-talking, quick-drawing cowpoke for the ages.
Also Read: Netflix Orders True Crime Series on Ted Bundy
The actor said he spent six months learning...
- 12/13/2018
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
If you replaced Tom Hardy for Steve Martin in “All of Me,” and switched out Lily Tomlin for a wad of chewed-up black licorice, you’d have “Venom.” The difference being that “All of Me” is a charming screwball comedy, and “Venom” is the kind of comic-book movie that people who hate comic-book movies think that all comic-book movies are like.
Leaping from plot point to plot point without the hindrance of logic or characters, this big-screen return of the legendary Spider-Man nemesis — last seen in the franchise-hobbling “Spider-Man 3” — is aggressively loud and stupid without being much fun at all. It exists as a waste of time for some very talented actors, and it’s proof that even Marvel (whether it’s the studio or other films based on its imprint) doesn’t always get it right.
Tom Hardy stars as Eddie Brock, a motorcycle-riding investigative reporter who tools...
Leaping from plot point to plot point without the hindrance of logic or characters, this big-screen return of the legendary Spider-Man nemesis — last seen in the franchise-hobbling “Spider-Man 3” — is aggressively loud and stupid without being much fun at all. It exists as a waste of time for some very talented actors, and it’s proof that even Marvel (whether it’s the studio or other films based on its imprint) doesn’t always get it right.
Tom Hardy stars as Eddie Brock, a motorcycle-riding investigative reporter who tools...
- 10/3/2018
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
After adapting such classic novels as William Faulkner’s “The Sound and the Fury” and Cormac McCarthy’s “Child of God,” James Franco appears to have found his calling with a rather different kind of book: Greg Sestero’s “The Disaster Artist,” which details the making of Tommy Wiseau’s “The Room.” The film is commonly regarded as a masterpiece of so-bad-it’s-good cinema, but Franco’s movie has won praise for his affectionate portrayal of the material — an affection that apparently inspired him to recreate nearly half an hour of it in his movie.
Read More:From ‘The Big Sick’ to ‘The Disaster Artist,’ 2017’s Best Performances Find Actors Playing Themselves
That’s according to an interview he and his brother Dave (who co-stars in “The Disaster Artist”) just did with the Independent, which comes with a disclaimer: Much of the footage they shot was left on the cutting-room floor.
Read More:From ‘The Big Sick’ to ‘The Disaster Artist,’ 2017’s Best Performances Find Actors Playing Themselves
That’s according to an interview he and his brother Dave (who co-stars in “The Disaster Artist”) just did with the Independent, which comes with a disclaimer: Much of the footage they shot was left on the cutting-room floor.
- 11/23/2017
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
James Franco is one of the six names in entertainment being celebrated at the inaugural IndieWire Honors on Nov. 2. Franco is recognized here for his transformative portrayal of the star and director of “The Room” in A24’s upcoming “The Disaster Artist” (In theaters nationwide December 8), which Franco also produced and directed. He will receive the IndieWire’s Vanguard Award (Film).
For a few years, James Franco was everywhere: Hosting the Oscars. Getting college degrees. Teaching college courses. Directing movies. Acting in movies. Writing about movies. Making art. Writing novels. Starting a band. Every now and then, he would penetrate the mainstream, with commercial releases like “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and “The Interview.” By and large, however, the affable face from “Freaks and Geeks,” Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” movies, and “127 Hrs” had grown so ubiquitous it had become difficult to discern the big picture.
Now, he’s...
For a few years, James Franco was everywhere: Hosting the Oscars. Getting college degrees. Teaching college courses. Directing movies. Acting in movies. Writing about movies. Making art. Writing novels. Starting a band. Every now and then, he would penetrate the mainstream, with commercial releases like “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and “The Interview.” By and large, however, the affable face from “Freaks and Geeks,” Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” movies, and “127 Hrs” had grown so ubiquitous it had become difficult to discern the big picture.
Now, he’s...
- 11/1/2017
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
James Franco and Scott Haze are back together again for The Vault! The pair first made waves with the Franco directed thriller Child Of God in 2013. Directed by Dan Bush, written by Conal Byrne and Dan Bush, The Vault features cinematography by Andrew Shulkind (Southbound, Panic Room) and visual effects by May Satsuki Asai (It […]...
- 8/11/2017
- by April Bedan
- Fangoria
Clay McLeod Chapman doesn't just write horror, he performs it in The Pumpkin Pie Show, an immersive storytelling experience that recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing Chapman perform (which our own Daily Dead Editor-in-Chief Jonathan James experienced at The Overlook Film Festival), you can certainly read his work anytime in a number of books, including his new short story collection, Nothing Untoward: Stories from The Pumpkin Pie Show. To celebrate the release of his new collection, we caught up with Chapman for our latest Q&A feature to discuss his literary influences, twenty years of The Pumpkin Pie Show, writing The Tribe trilogy for Disney press, and his upcoming Marvel project that he describes as "a love story between Deadpool and Venom."
What authors and storytellers were you drawn to in your formative years that influenced your own writing and performing?
Clay McLeod Chapman: First off…...
What authors and storytellers were you drawn to in your formative years that influenced your own writing and performing?
Clay McLeod Chapman: First off…...
- 5/25/2017
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
A extensive look at all those movies James Franco directed.
James Franco has done a lot of things, we’ve heard. Following a successful turn on Judd Apatow’s Freaks and Geeks and a well-received starring spot on a TNT biopic on James Dean, he turned immediately to a litany of pursuits: from playwriting and English degrees to painting and directing no less than ten feature-lengths. The latter project interested me. Were they any good? In Franco’s Rolling Stone profile last year, Jonah Weiner ran around a thesaurus of words like “dizzying,” “indefatigable“ and, wait for it, “multihyphenate” to describe his subject but none of those words mean very much. Paul Klee painted over a thousand paintings in the penultimate last year of his life. So could I. So what?
“What did we do to deserve James Franco?,” asked Rex Reed in a slightly different era. Back then, even the The Guardian agreed with Jared Kushner...
James Franco has done a lot of things, we’ve heard. Following a successful turn on Judd Apatow’s Freaks and Geeks and a well-received starring spot on a TNT biopic on James Dean, he turned immediately to a litany of pursuits: from playwriting and English degrees to painting and directing no less than ten feature-lengths. The latter project interested me. Were they any good? In Franco’s Rolling Stone profile last year, Jonah Weiner ran around a thesaurus of words like “dizzying,” “indefatigable“ and, wait for it, “multihyphenate” to describe his subject but none of those words mean very much. Paul Klee painted over a thousand paintings in the penultimate last year of his life. So could I. So what?
“What did we do to deserve James Franco?,” asked Rex Reed in a slightly different era. Back then, even the The Guardian agreed with Jared Kushner...
- 4/13/2017
- by Andrew Karpan
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Exclusive: Scott Haze, who has appeared in such films as Jeff Nichols’ Midnight Special, The Sound and the Fury and Child Of God, has signed with a team at CAA, moving from ICM. Haze recently was seen in James Franco’s In Dubious Battle, with Nat Wolff, Josh Hutcherson and Selena Gomez, which premiered at last year’s Venice Film Festival. His upcoming slate includes Jason Hall’s Thank You for Your Service, starring Miles Teller and Amy Schumer, which Universal releases…...
- 4/4/2017
- Deadline
Starting today, horror fans can check into The Institute at theaters and on VOD via Momentum Pictures, and we caught up with co-director Pamela Romanowsky to discuss collaborating with co-director James Franco, the movie's unique filming location, and much more.
Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for us, Pamela. What attracted you to telling this story by Adam and Matt Rager?
Pamela Romanowsky: Well, the first question for me was “why a horror film?” I like films across lots of genres, but I’m not a horror buff, so this was a first for me. The horror films I do love are genre blending, movies that are character-based and explore things that are dark but still based in reality, and in the dark corners of human psychology. I’ve never really been scared of the supernatural, but people are certainly capable of terrifying and very dark things.
Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for us, Pamela. What attracted you to telling this story by Adam and Matt Rager?
Pamela Romanowsky: Well, the first question for me was “why a horror film?” I like films across lots of genres, but I’m not a horror buff, so this was a first for me. The horror films I do love are genre blending, movies that are character-based and explore things that are dark but still based in reality, and in the dark corners of human psychology. I’ve never really been scared of the supernatural, but people are certainly capable of terrifying and very dark things.
- 3/3/2017
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Let it be known that I genuinely like James Franco. Given the choice between ‘yer average pretty boy movie star and a ludicrous avant-garde polymath jester, I’ll pick the latter every time. Problem is, while the self-titled Mayor of Gay Town gleefully smashes through cultural/social/artistic boundaries like a steam train, the art that’s produced at the end of it is… not great.
And so to In Dubious Battle, an adaptation of John Steinbeck’s 1936 novel of the same name and the latest in Franco’s quest to put his favorite books on screen. This weighty literary project has, thus far, borne little of value. His adaptations of Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying were “nearly unwatchable” and “stale and jumbled,” and his take on Cormac McCarthy’s Child of God “tedious and meandering”. Sadly, this trend remains unbroken.
Set during the Great Depression,...
And so to In Dubious Battle, an adaptation of John Steinbeck’s 1936 novel of the same name and the latest in Franco’s quest to put his favorite books on screen. This weighty literary project has, thus far, borne little of value. His adaptations of Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying were “nearly unwatchable” and “stale and jumbled,” and his take on Cormac McCarthy’s Child of God “tedious and meandering”. Sadly, this trend remains unbroken.
Set during the Great Depression,...
- 2/16/2017
- by David James
- We Got This Covered
James Franco’s death march through the American literary canon continues with In Dubious Battle, a John Steinbeck adaptation so conventionally dismal that it makes one better appreciate the artsy, dawdling garbage that is the actor turned dilettante’s usual stock in trade. Every Franco personal project—from his unintelligible, low-budget adaptations of William Faulkner (As I Lay Dying, The Sound And The Fury) and Cormac McCarthy (Child Of God) to his novels and assorted experiments in self-fellatio—is born with a “Kick Me” sign on its back, begging critics to punt it in the keister for making artistic ambition look lame. This one even comes with a freebie: It’s got “dubious” right there in the title. But instead of being sloppily miscalculated (the “Franco touch”), this attempt at a Depression-era labor drama in the vein of John Sayles just bores its way through almost two hours of screen...
- 2/15/2017
- by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
- avclub.com
Continuing his brave effort to ensure that future students of American literature can just buy the VOD equivalent of a box set instead of ever having to read another Great American Novel again, actor-director James Franco has moved from adapting Faulkner (As I Lay Dying, The Sound and the Fury) and McCarthy (Child of God) to Steinbeck with In Dubious Battle. The author's novel is the first of what would become Steinbeck’s Dustbowl trilogy (which also includes Of Mice and Men and Grapes of Wrath) and recounts a Great Depression-era strike that apple pickers in California organized to get
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- 9/2/2016
- by Boyd van Hoeij
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
If you’ve seen James Franco’s take on Cormac McCarthy’s “Child of God and/or William Faulkner’s “The Sound and the Fury,” you’ll surely have a strong opinion about the prospect of his next literary adaptation: John Steinbeck’s “In Dubious Battle.” Ahead of its Venice premiere next weekend, the film has just debuted its first trailer courtesy of Deadline.
Read More: James Franco’s Movie Column: What Werner Herzog’s Documentaries Teach Us About Humanity
Part of the Dustbowl Trilogy along with “Of Mice and Men” and “The Grapes of Wrath,” Steinbeck’s novel was first published in 1936; the plot concerns a California labor dispute during the Great Depression. Franco also stars in the film, which boasts an ensemble cast including Nat Wolff, Selena Gomez, Vincent D’Onofrio, Robert Duvall, Ed Harris, Bryan Cranston, Sam Shepard, Josh Hutcherson, Ashley Greene, John Savage and Zach Braff.
Read More: James Franco’s Movie Column: What Werner Herzog’s Documentaries Teach Us About Humanity
Part of the Dustbowl Trilogy along with “Of Mice and Men” and “The Grapes of Wrath,” Steinbeck’s novel was first published in 1936; the plot concerns a California labor dispute during the Great Depression. Franco also stars in the film, which boasts an ensemble cast including Nat Wolff, Selena Gomez, Vincent D’Onofrio, Robert Duvall, Ed Harris, Bryan Cranston, Sam Shepard, Josh Hutcherson, Ashley Greene, John Savage and Zach Braff.
- 8/29/2016
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
The Birth of a Nation isn’t out for a few more months, but writer/director/co-producer/star Nate Parker’s next project is already lined up. Legendary has acquired an idea for an original feature film from Parker, reports Deadline; though it’s currently untitled and no plot details are being released, the new film is said to revolve around “creating a world.” He will once again write, direct and produce.
Read More: ‘Birth of a Nation’: Controversial New Poster Shows Nate Parker In American Flag Noose
Parker set a Sundance record when his “Birth of a Nation” was acquired at the festival for $17.5 million by Fox Searchlight. In addition, his based-on-fact slavery drama won the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Dramatic Competition.
Read More: ‘The Birth of a Nation’ Trailer: Nate Parker Is a Child of God in New Look at His...
Read More: ‘Birth of a Nation’: Controversial New Poster Shows Nate Parker In American Flag Noose
Parker set a Sundance record when his “Birth of a Nation” was acquired at the festival for $17.5 million by Fox Searchlight. In addition, his based-on-fact slavery drama won the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Dramatic Competition.
Read More: ‘The Birth of a Nation’ Trailer: Nate Parker Is a Child of God in New Look at His...
- 7/19/2016
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Nate Parker’s Sundance winner “The Birth of a Nation” has released a powerful new poster, courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures.
The new image features Parker’s character, Nat Turner in black and white, being hung by a noose made out of the American flag, which is shown in color.
Read More: Nate Parker’s 10 Huge Lessons from Making ‘The Birth of a Nation’
The slavery drama, written, directed and co-produced by Parker, tells the story of a slave and preacher who in 1831 led a slave uprising in Georgia. Armie Hammer, Aja Naomi King, Jackie Earle Haley, Penelope Ann Miller and Gabrielle Union also co-star in the powerful film.
The feature has been garnering award season buzz after it took home the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize at the Utah-held festival this year. Upon its premiere, it set a Sundance record when it was acquired by Fox Searchlight for $17.5 million.
The new image features Parker’s character, Nat Turner in black and white, being hung by a noose made out of the American flag, which is shown in color.
Read More: Nate Parker’s 10 Huge Lessons from Making ‘The Birth of a Nation’
The slavery drama, written, directed and co-produced by Parker, tells the story of a slave and preacher who in 1831 led a slave uprising in Georgia. Armie Hammer, Aja Naomi King, Jackie Earle Haley, Penelope Ann Miller and Gabrielle Union also co-star in the powerful film.
The feature has been garnering award season buzz after it took home the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize at the Utah-held festival this year. Upon its premiere, it set a Sundance record when it was acquired by Fox Searchlight for $17.5 million.
- 7/16/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
Sundance Institute announced that Nate Parker is this year’s Vanguard Award recipient. The award will be presented to the director and actor at the Night Before Next celebration on August 11 at the Theatre at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles. The summer festivity will benefit the Institute and its artists on the eve of Sundance Next Fest.
“Night Before Next will bring our community together to celebrate and support independent artists who create bold, original work,” said Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute. “In this spirit, we are excited to honor Nate Parker as he prepares to release the extraordinary film ‘The Birth of a Nation,’ which we supported during development and premiered at our Festival.”
Read More: ‘The Birth of a Nation’ Trailer: Nate Parker Is a Child of God in New Look at His Sundance Prizewinner
Parker, who is making his directorial debut with “The Birth of a Nation,...
“Night Before Next will bring our community together to celebrate and support independent artists who create bold, original work,” said Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute. “In this spirit, we are excited to honor Nate Parker as he prepares to release the extraordinary film ‘The Birth of a Nation,’ which we supported during development and premiered at our Festival.”
Read More: ‘The Birth of a Nation’ Trailer: Nate Parker Is a Child of God in New Look at His Sundance Prizewinner
Parker, who is making his directorial debut with “The Birth of a Nation,...
- 6/28/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
James + Semaj is a column where James Franco talks to his reverse self, Semaj, about new films. Rather than a conventional review, it is place where James and Semaj can muse about ideas that the films provoke. James loves going to the movies and talking about them. But a one-sided take on a movie, in print, might be misconstrued as a review. As someone in the industry it could be detrimental to James’s career if he were to review his peers, because unlike the book industry—where writers review other writer’s books—the film industry is highly collaborative, and a bad review of a peer could create problems. So, assume that James (and Semaj) love all these films. What they’re interested in talking about is all the ways the films inspire them, and make them think. James is me, and Semaj is the other side of me.
This week’s column is about “Swiss Army Man,” which opens theatrically on Friday.
James: So this is “a farting corpse bromance.”
Semaj: Don’t spoil it.
James: Ok, it’s “an endearing dark comedy about loneliness and the human need to connect to another.”
Semaj: It kind of reminds me of “Child of God,” that movie you adapted from Cormac McCarthy’s third novel about a necrophiliac.
James: “Child of God” is a little darker than this movie.
Semaj: Yeah, but only because the character in “Child of God” sleeps with his corpses and then starts to murder more people to have more companions.
James: That character, Lester Ballard, was loosely based on the real murderer, Ed Gein, notorious bone and skin collector and exhumer of bodies. He made lampshades out of skin, and bedposts out of skulls.
Semaj: Ed Gein also inspired Robert Bloch’s “Psycho” (the human taxidermy, Norman dressing up like his dead mother) and Nicholas Winding Refn’s favorite movie of all time, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
James: Why are you bringing up Nicolas Winding Refen?
Semaj: He’s always talking about “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” I think he took his wife to see it on their first date ever.
James: Anyway, “Swiss Army Man” does deal with a corpse like all those films, but it does it in a different way. Somehow it’s not as bleak, and grisly. It’s pretty skillful how they pull it off.
Semaj: “Weekend at Bernie’s” already pulled off a corpse comedy.
James: This isn’t like “Weekend at Bernie’s” either. That’s a straight-up comedy, but like the Two Corey’s classic, “License to Drive,” the comedy comes from the characters trying to disguise the fact that they are carting around a corpse.
Semaj: In “License to Drive,” it’s a drunken Heather Graham.
James: Yeah, but in those movies they have no meaningful interactions with the incapacitated (or dead) characters. The bodies are usually temporarily animated to deliver a moment of comedy.
Semaj: In “Swiss Army Man,” it’s all about the relationship between Paul Dano and the corpse.
James: Exactly. Paul Dano’s character is so lonely that on the brink of suicide he meets the Daniel Radcliff corpse and immediately begins to develop a friendship with him.
Semaj: In a way, it’s as if Paul Dano’s character is animating the corpse with his own thoughts and feelings.
James: Exactly! He provides the corpse with his personality.
Semaj: Sort of like you do with these columns — you animate both sides of a conversation.
James: Yeah, I guess so. Maybe I’m lonely, too.
Semaj: I’m here for you.
James: Thanks, man.
Semaj: So, does that mean that Paul Dano’s character is having a bromance with himself?
James: Sort of, but it’s more complex than that. One of the things that is great about necrophilia stories, despite their disguising reality, is they allow an intense examination of what it means to be intimate with an other. Dano’s character wants what everyone wants: to connect to another, to love and be loved. But he has been damaged by a loveless father, and is so insecure that he is incapable of speaking to the woman he’s attracted to on his bus route.
Semaj: So he isolates himself in the wilderness, and becomes lonelier.
James: He has given up on conventional social interactions, he can’t do it, the world has rejected him. He feels ugly and unlovable.
Semaj: But when he finds the corpse he can infuse it with all his ideas of a perfect mate. He is out in the woods with no one to contradict him, so his imagination can run wild, and he can believe, without any objections from the greater world, that his new corpse friend can talk, and use his farts to propel them over the water like a jet ski, or light fires, or shoot them up into the sky to evade dangerous animals.
James: Exactly. So you think that all that fantastic stuff is in Paul Dano’s imagination?
Semaj: I think so, but it doesn’t really matter after a while because the movie takes us on his ride, we are experiencing everything through his eyes, so whether that stuff really happens or not doesn’t matter as much as having those experiences affect him, and seeing that they are emotionally real for him. Because of that, the audience also feels.
James: That’s one thing the movie does really well: it draws you into his quirky world so you can get on board with what would otherwise, in actuality, be a fucked up situation.
Semaj: I think the farts have a lot to do with making the whole thing more palatable.
James: You’re exactly right. It seems like a silly thing, and amongst people I’ve talked to, the movie is already known as the “farting corpse movie,” but the idea that the corpse’s gas aids Dano’s imagination when animating the corpse is crucial. From the first meeting on, the corpse farts, and it immediately takes the tone of the film out of the macabre and into the more enjoyable realms of a quirky bromance, where two oddball guys can enjoy fart jokes, talk about women, masturbation, and in the end forge an intimate bond.
James: The movie was directed by two guys with the first name Daniel, so they’re credited as “Daniels.”
Semaj: Maybe making the movie was a kind of bromance for them, too.
James: There is nothing more intimate than creating something with someone. That’s why I collaborate with all my friends again and again.
Semaj: Basically the corpse provides Dano with everything he was denied by everyone else in his life.
James: Exactly, just like all bromances do. In “Pineapple Express,” Dale realizes that his weird drug dealer Saul is actually his best friend; in “Superbad,” the boys learn that they love each other more than anyone; “This is the End” is partly an examination of the strain that trauma puts on friendships, and ultimately the triumph of true friendship, even when facing the end of the world.
Semaj: It’s weird that they didn’t let you go to heaven at the end of that film.
James: You’re telling me! I mean Wtf? I sacrificed myself for Seth, and I still don’t get to go to heaven?
Semaj: Danny McBride dragged you down to Hell.
James: Well, Hell would be heaven with a friend like Danny, and Heaven would be Hell without Seth.
Semaj: Awwww.
Related storiesDaniel Radcliffe and His 'Swiss Army Man' Dummy: What We Learned From This Dynamic Duo On A24's NYC Bus Tour'Swiss Army Man' Online Game: Play With Daniel Radcliffe's CorpseWatch: Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe Sing Their Way Through Wild 'Swiss Army Man' Soundtrack...
This week’s column is about “Swiss Army Man,” which opens theatrically on Friday.
James: So this is “a farting corpse bromance.”
Semaj: Don’t spoil it.
James: Ok, it’s “an endearing dark comedy about loneliness and the human need to connect to another.”
Semaj: It kind of reminds me of “Child of God,” that movie you adapted from Cormac McCarthy’s third novel about a necrophiliac.
James: “Child of God” is a little darker than this movie.
Semaj: Yeah, but only because the character in “Child of God” sleeps with his corpses and then starts to murder more people to have more companions.
James: That character, Lester Ballard, was loosely based on the real murderer, Ed Gein, notorious bone and skin collector and exhumer of bodies. He made lampshades out of skin, and bedposts out of skulls.
Semaj: Ed Gein also inspired Robert Bloch’s “Psycho” (the human taxidermy, Norman dressing up like his dead mother) and Nicholas Winding Refn’s favorite movie of all time, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
James: Why are you bringing up Nicolas Winding Refen?
Semaj: He’s always talking about “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” I think he took his wife to see it on their first date ever.
James: Anyway, “Swiss Army Man” does deal with a corpse like all those films, but it does it in a different way. Somehow it’s not as bleak, and grisly. It’s pretty skillful how they pull it off.
Semaj: “Weekend at Bernie’s” already pulled off a corpse comedy.
James: This isn’t like “Weekend at Bernie’s” either. That’s a straight-up comedy, but like the Two Corey’s classic, “License to Drive,” the comedy comes from the characters trying to disguise the fact that they are carting around a corpse.
Semaj: In “License to Drive,” it’s a drunken Heather Graham.
James: Yeah, but in those movies they have no meaningful interactions with the incapacitated (or dead) characters. The bodies are usually temporarily animated to deliver a moment of comedy.
Semaj: In “Swiss Army Man,” it’s all about the relationship between Paul Dano and the corpse.
James: Exactly. Paul Dano’s character is so lonely that on the brink of suicide he meets the Daniel Radcliff corpse and immediately begins to develop a friendship with him.
Semaj: In a way, it’s as if Paul Dano’s character is animating the corpse with his own thoughts and feelings.
James: Exactly! He provides the corpse with his personality.
Semaj: Sort of like you do with these columns — you animate both sides of a conversation.
James: Yeah, I guess so. Maybe I’m lonely, too.
Semaj: I’m here for you.
James: Thanks, man.
Semaj: So, does that mean that Paul Dano’s character is having a bromance with himself?
James: Sort of, but it’s more complex than that. One of the things that is great about necrophilia stories, despite their disguising reality, is they allow an intense examination of what it means to be intimate with an other. Dano’s character wants what everyone wants: to connect to another, to love and be loved. But he has been damaged by a loveless father, and is so insecure that he is incapable of speaking to the woman he’s attracted to on his bus route.
Semaj: So he isolates himself in the wilderness, and becomes lonelier.
James: He has given up on conventional social interactions, he can’t do it, the world has rejected him. He feels ugly and unlovable.
Semaj: But when he finds the corpse he can infuse it with all his ideas of a perfect mate. He is out in the woods with no one to contradict him, so his imagination can run wild, and he can believe, without any objections from the greater world, that his new corpse friend can talk, and use his farts to propel them over the water like a jet ski, or light fires, or shoot them up into the sky to evade dangerous animals.
James: Exactly. So you think that all that fantastic stuff is in Paul Dano’s imagination?
Semaj: I think so, but it doesn’t really matter after a while because the movie takes us on his ride, we are experiencing everything through his eyes, so whether that stuff really happens or not doesn’t matter as much as having those experiences affect him, and seeing that they are emotionally real for him. Because of that, the audience also feels.
James: That’s one thing the movie does really well: it draws you into his quirky world so you can get on board with what would otherwise, in actuality, be a fucked up situation.
Semaj: I think the farts have a lot to do with making the whole thing more palatable.
James: You’re exactly right. It seems like a silly thing, and amongst people I’ve talked to, the movie is already known as the “farting corpse movie,” but the idea that the corpse’s gas aids Dano’s imagination when animating the corpse is crucial. From the first meeting on, the corpse farts, and it immediately takes the tone of the film out of the macabre and into the more enjoyable realms of a quirky bromance, where two oddball guys can enjoy fart jokes, talk about women, masturbation, and in the end forge an intimate bond.
James: The movie was directed by two guys with the first name Daniel, so they’re credited as “Daniels.”
Semaj: Maybe making the movie was a kind of bromance for them, too.
James: There is nothing more intimate than creating something with someone. That’s why I collaborate with all my friends again and again.
Semaj: Basically the corpse provides Dano with everything he was denied by everyone else in his life.
James: Exactly, just like all bromances do. In “Pineapple Express,” Dale realizes that his weird drug dealer Saul is actually his best friend; in “Superbad,” the boys learn that they love each other more than anyone; “This is the End” is partly an examination of the strain that trauma puts on friendships, and ultimately the triumph of true friendship, even when facing the end of the world.
Semaj: It’s weird that they didn’t let you go to heaven at the end of that film.
James: You’re telling me! I mean Wtf? I sacrificed myself for Seth, and I still don’t get to go to heaven?
Semaj: Danny McBride dragged you down to Hell.
James: Well, Hell would be heaven with a friend like Danny, and Heaven would be Hell without Seth.
Semaj: Awwww.
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- 6/14/2016
- by James Franco
- Indiewire
Russell Crowe is reportedly in talks to star in the James Franco-directed film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian" at Rabbit Bandini.
The long-in-the-works adaptation is based on historical events that took place on the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s and traces the journey of the Kid, a 14-year-old Tennesseean who stumbles into a nightmarish world when he joins a ruthless gang of scalphunters that includes the mysterious and menacing Judge Holden.
Tye Sheridan and Vincent D'Onofrio are also onboard while Franco will have a role in the film which Scott Rudin, Cassian Elwes and Vince Jolivette will produce. Franco previously directed the 2013 McCarthy adaptation "Child of God" and most recently starred in the gay porn murder scandal film "King Cobra".
Source: Deadline...
The long-in-the-works adaptation is based on historical events that took place on the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s and traces the journey of the Kid, a 14-year-old Tennesseean who stumbles into a nightmarish world when he joins a ruthless gang of scalphunters that includes the mysterious and menacing Judge Holden.
Tye Sheridan and Vincent D'Onofrio are also onboard while Franco will have a role in the film which Scott Rudin, Cassian Elwes and Vince Jolivette will produce. Franco previously directed the 2013 McCarthy adaptation "Child of God" and most recently starred in the gay porn murder scandal film "King Cobra".
Source: Deadline...
- 5/5/2016
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Update: THR is reporting the film has now being shelved because the filmmakers don’t actually have the rights to the novel — classic mistake. Check out the original story below.
I can say this much for James Franco‘s Blood Meridian adaptation: nobody wants it more than him. He first dipped into the nasty waters of Cormac McCarthy‘s seminal text — one that usually tops lists ranking the best post-World War II novels — by signing on more than five years ago. That didn’t seem to work out, at least initially, though he did get to work on another McCarthy adaptation, Child of God, about which we were rather positive; and that was followed by the release of test footage, 25 minutes in total, from which his perspective and approach should be gleaned a bit. If nothing else, this is exactly how a multi-hyphenate keeps chipping away at the adaptation of their favorite novel,...
I can say this much for James Franco‘s Blood Meridian adaptation: nobody wants it more than him. He first dipped into the nasty waters of Cormac McCarthy‘s seminal text — one that usually tops lists ranking the best post-World War II novels — by signing on more than five years ago. That didn’t seem to work out, at least initially, though he did get to work on another McCarthy adaptation, Child of God, about which we were rather positive; and that was followed by the release of test footage, 25 minutes in total, from which his perspective and approach should be gleaned a bit. If nothing else, this is exactly how a multi-hyphenate keeps chipping away at the adaptation of their favorite novel,...
- 5/5/2016
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Update: THR reports that this entire project has fallen apart because the filmmakers didn't have the rights to the novel. How they could have possibly thought they could have made the movie without those rights is unclear. Original article follows.
A film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel Blood Meridian has been kicking around Hollywood for what seems like decades at this point, and a somewhat unlikely man is bringing it to life: James Franco. Deadline reports that the prolific filmmaker — if you haven't been paying attention, you probably didn't know he's directed seven movies in the past three years and has a staggering eight more currently in post-production — will direct and star in the new movie, and Russell Crowe is in talks to co-star. X-Men: Apocalypse star Tye Sheridan and Daredevil baddie Vincent D'Onofrio are on board as well.
Here's the synopsis of the book:
An epic novel of...
A film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel Blood Meridian has been kicking around Hollywood for what seems like decades at this point, and a somewhat unlikely man is bringing it to life: James Franco. Deadline reports that the prolific filmmaker — if you haven't been paying attention, you probably didn't know he's directed seven movies in the past three years and has a staggering eight more currently in post-production — will direct and star in the new movie, and Russell Crowe is in talks to co-star. X-Men: Apocalypse star Tye Sheridan and Daredevil baddie Vincent D'Onofrio are on board as well.
Here's the synopsis of the book:
An epic novel of...
- 5/5/2016
- by Ben Pearson
- GeekTyrant
Exclusive: A major all-star package has dropped into the market on the eve of Cannes as it emerged on Thursday that Scott Rudin is finally moving ahead on his long-gestating Cormac McCarthy adaptation.
Im Global will launch international sales on the Croisette on Blood Meridian and is co-financing the project, while CAA represents Us rights.
James Franco will direct and star alongside Russell Crowe, Tye Sheridan, and Vincent D’Onofrio. Further casting attachments are anticipated.
Like Rudin, who steered the McCarthy adaptation No Country For Old Men to worldwide success, Franco is a devout McCarthy fan.
Franco wooed Blood Meridian rights-holder Rudin years ago with test footage but there was no deal, so he headed off to shoot McCarthy adaptation Child Of God instead.
Now it would appear the younger man’s tenacity has prevailed and the project will proceed. Rudin will produce alongside Cassian Elwes and Franco’s partner at Rabbit Bandini, Vince Jolivette.
[link...
Im Global will launch international sales on the Croisette on Blood Meridian and is co-financing the project, while CAA represents Us rights.
James Franco will direct and star alongside Russell Crowe, Tye Sheridan, and Vincent D’Onofrio. Further casting attachments are anticipated.
Like Rudin, who steered the McCarthy adaptation No Country For Old Men to worldwide success, Franco is a devout McCarthy fan.
Franco wooed Blood Meridian rights-holder Rudin years ago with test footage but there was no deal, so he headed off to shoot McCarthy adaptation Child Of God instead.
Now it would appear the younger man’s tenacity has prevailed and the project will proceed. Rudin will produce alongside Cassian Elwes and Franco’s partner at Rabbit Bandini, Vince Jolivette.
[link...
- 5/5/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: A major all-star package has dropped into the market on the eve of Cannes as it emerged on Thursday that Scott Rudin is finally moving ahead on his long-gestating Cormac McCarthy adaptation.
Im Global will launch international sales on the Croisette on Blood Meridian and is co-financing the project, while CAA represents Us rights.
James Franco will direct and star alongside Russell Crowe, Tye Sheridan, Ryan Reynolds and Vincent D’Onofrio. Further casting attachments are anticipated.
Like Rudin, who steered the McCarthy adaptation No Country For Old Men to worldwide success, Franco is a devout McCarthy fan.
Franco wooed Blood Meridian rights-holder Rudin years ago with test footage but there was no deal, so he headed off to shoot McCarthy adaptation Child Of God instead.
Now it would appear the younger man’s tenacity has prevailed and the project will proceed. Rudin will produce alongside Cassian Elwes and Franco’s partner at Rabbit Bandini, Vince Jolivette.
[link...
Im Global will launch international sales on the Croisette on Blood Meridian and is co-financing the project, while CAA represents Us rights.
James Franco will direct and star alongside Russell Crowe, Tye Sheridan, Ryan Reynolds and Vincent D’Onofrio. Further casting attachments are anticipated.
Like Rudin, who steered the McCarthy adaptation No Country For Old Men to worldwide success, Franco is a devout McCarthy fan.
Franco wooed Blood Meridian rights-holder Rudin years ago with test footage but there was no deal, so he headed off to shoot McCarthy adaptation Child Of God instead.
Now it would appear the younger man’s tenacity has prevailed and the project will proceed. Rudin will produce alongside Cassian Elwes and Franco’s partner at Rabbit Bandini, Vince Jolivette.
[link...
- 5/5/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Film adaptations of the work of Cormac McCarthy have so far yielded a Best Picture winner ("No Country For Old Men”), a nihilistic screed (“The Counselor,” which isn’t technically an adaptation), two meddled-with-by Harvey Weinstein almost classics (“All The Pretty Horses,” “The Road”) and one forgotten indie (“Child Of God”). And as enjoyable as many of these have been, it’s safe to say the holy grail of McCarthy’s yet to be filmed oeuvre is his epic, violent and depraved anti-Western “Blood Meridian,” which many have noted doesn’t really have much of a plot (but plenty of gruesome killing). Ridley Scott once wanted to make a “double X” horrific version; James Franco wanted to direct it so badly that he shot test footage out of his own pocket; writer/director Todd Field once tried to adapt it; Michael Haneke has said he was once interested in filming the book; and in general,...
- 2/29/2016
- by Rodrigo Perez
- The Playlist
Principal photography has begun on the DreamWorks Pictures film adaptation of David Finkel’s book, Thank You For Your Service, it was announced today by the studio. The film stars Miles Teller (Whiplash), Haley Bennett (The Girl on the Train), Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders), Amy Schumer (Trainwreck), Beulah Koale (The Last Saint), Scott Haze (Child of God), Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider), Brad Beyer (42), Omar Dorsey (Selma) and Jayson Warner Smith (The Birth of a Nation).
Oscar nominated screenwriter Jason Hall (American Sniper) makes his directorial debut on Thank You For Your Service. Hall also wrote the screenplay for the story that follows a group of U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq who struggle to integrate back into family and civilian life, while living with the memory of a war that threatens to destroy them long after they’ve left the battlefield. Jon Kilik (Foxcatcher, Babel) is producing with Ann Ruark...
Oscar nominated screenwriter Jason Hall (American Sniper) makes his directorial debut on Thank You For Your Service. Hall also wrote the screenplay for the story that follows a group of U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq who struggle to integrate back into family and civilian life, while living with the memory of a war that threatens to destroy them long after they’ve left the battlefield. Jon Kilik (Foxcatcher, Babel) is producing with Ann Ruark...
- 2/9/2016
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
After working with James Franco on a handful of films, rising star Scott Haze (“Child of God”) has booked a lead role alongside Miles Teller in DreamWorks’ Ptsd drama “Thank You for Your Service,” which will be distributed by Universal, TheWrap has learned. Haley Bennett and newcomer Beulah Koale co-star in the movie, which marks the directorial debut of “American Sniper” writer Jason Hall. The Oscar-nominated writer also adapted the nonfiction book by David Finkel. Jon Kilik will produce the film, which will be executive produced by Ann Ruark. “Thank You for Your Service” follows a group of U.S.
- 1/7/2016
- by Jeff Sneider
- The Wrap
But a Walking Shadow: Franco’s Faulkner Redux Merely Serviceable
Continuing to thumb his nose at naysayers, James Franco plunges onward into his own particular directorial abyss with his second William Faulkner adaptation, The Sound and the Fury. Much like its predecessor, 2013’s As I Lay Dying, the actor-filmmaker manages a troubled synopsis of Faulkner’s enigmatic text but still remains unable to strike a visual resonance necessitating his undertaking.
Ambitious and a bit pretentious, Franco’s cinematic hubris may know no bounds, though it’s still refreshing to see him shirk the limiting lasso of mainstream sensibility in his personal crusade to create something meaningful. That said, there are several moments reaching a certain poetic pitch, collapsing a quartet of perspectives into a simplified triptych. Complex characterizations and the narrative resonance of Faulkner aren’t quite intact with this otherwise faithful transplant, but its first and third acts maintain a watchable melodramatic energy.
Continuing to thumb his nose at naysayers, James Franco plunges onward into his own particular directorial abyss with his second William Faulkner adaptation, The Sound and the Fury. Much like its predecessor, 2013’s As I Lay Dying, the actor-filmmaker manages a troubled synopsis of Faulkner’s enigmatic text but still remains unable to strike a visual resonance necessitating his undertaking.
Ambitious and a bit pretentious, Franco’s cinematic hubris may know no bounds, though it’s still refreshing to see him shirk the limiting lasso of mainstream sensibility in his personal crusade to create something meaningful. That said, there are several moments reaching a certain poetic pitch, collapsing a quartet of perspectives into a simplified triptych. Complex characterizations and the narrative resonance of Faulkner aren’t quite intact with this otherwise faithful transplant, but its first and third acts maintain a watchable melodramatic energy.
- 10/23/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
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