When one considers the success of HBO’s recent John Adams mini-series, it kind of feel obvious. The American Film Company (they’ve got Robert Redford‘s historical courtroom drama The Conspirator in theaters next week) have bought the rights to David Hackett Fischer‘s book Paul Revere’s Ride and hired screenwriting duo Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone (Intolerable Cruelty, Soul Men) to pen the script, which is be titled Midnight Riders. [L.A. Times]
The “ride” in question is that of Revere and William Dawes (not to mention the many others), who rode across the Massachusetts countryside to Lexington, Concord and many others locations to warn people like Samuel Adams and John Hancock that the British were, uh, coming. Revere has always garnered the most fame from the event, thanks to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, Paul Revere’s Ride. You’ll remember, Revere is the same man who engraved the Boston Massacre into infamy, copying Henry Pelham‘s painting, an extremely hyperbolic recounting of an incident. All of this to say that the man was good at P.R. Let’s hope American Film Co. has the same skill. Historical dramas are never an easy thing to sell.
American claims that this historical fiction will contain more action than The Conspirator, which feels both natural and needed, based on Redford’s film’s lukewarm critical reaction and limited theatrical release in the Oscar-unfriendly month of April. Nevertheless, Revere’s tale is one of conspiracy and action and intrigue, so a proper silver-screen treatment feels more than warranted, even a bit long-in-the-waiting. The studio promises a director’s announcement coming soon.
What do you think? Who should play Revere? Direct the film?