From the “team-ups you never knew you needed until now” department comes word that Michael B. Jordan and Michael Shannon will co-star in an HBO adaptation of Fahrenheit 451. Deadline reports that Jordan, who is currently filming Marvel’s Black Panther, and Shannon, who is currently staring at you with his large, intimidating eyes, will headline the film for Ramin Bahrani, who previously directed Shannon in the underseen 99 Homes.
Adapted from the 1953 Ray Bradbury novel, Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian saga about “firemen” who don’t put out fires, but rather start them by burning books, which are outlawed in the bleak but probably now not-too-distant version of America the characters inhabit. Jordan will play Guy Montag, a fireman who comes to lose faith in his profession once his eyes are opened to the outlawed printed word. Shannon is Captain Beatty, Montag’s mentor.
Bradbury’s novel was previously adapted as a 1966 film directed by François Truffaut, and served as the inspiration for countless other dystopian sci-fi titles, including the gun-fu extravaganza Equilibrium. Bahrani wrote the new HBO adaptation with his 99 Homes co-writer Amir Naderi. Jordan will serve as Executive Producer with his Outlier Productions. See the trailer for Truffaut’s version below.