I thought about starting this with some note about living in a world where literature is increasingly unappreciated — but nobody really needs that so I’ll instead just relate The Wrap‘s story that Ramin Bahrani is looking to follow 99 Homes with an adaptation of Ray Bradbury‘s perennial sci-fi classic Fahrenheit 451. The project has been in WB’s pipeline for some time, in semi-recent years attracting the likes of Mel Gibson and Frank Darabont with its dystopian future and central figure, Guy Montag, a “fireman” whose main task is to burn the written word.
Unadaptable this text is not, judging solely by François Truffaut’s great adaptation. While that one’s a bit more off-kilter than what I expect HBO Films and Warner Bros. to deliver — unless they’re really putting their chips down here — Bahrani’s eye for social issues of this current day should make him a stronger fit than most contemporaries.
In other news, THR informs us Steven Spielberg and Mark Rylance have set their fourth collaboration — itself the second announced just this week. To follow Bridge of Spies and The B.F.G., and precede The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara, is Ready Player One, the long-brewing adaptation of Ernie Cline‘s video-game-centered, best-selling YA novel. He’s a bit of a late addition — and supposedly jumping right between this and Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk — what with the picture having already attracted Tye Sheridan, Ben Mendelsohn, Olivia Cooke, and Simon Pegg. Being the eldest member of its central cast, it only makes sense that Rylance is looking to play James Donovan Halliday, the Howard Hughes- and Steve Jobs-esque creator of this story’s central game.
Ready Player One begins production in June and will arrive on March 30, 2018.
There are two other casting bits, both from Deadline: first is a notice that Sam Rockwell and writer-director Hadi Hajaig (Cleanskin) will partner for Blue Iguana, a black comedy which, according to its helmer, is in the spirit of Jonathan Demme’s great Something Wild. Little else is reported right now, save for word that its violence-filled story concerns “two outcasts who fall in love in the strangest of circumstances,” while the title “refers to a coveted diamond.”
With UK Film Studio Productions and 3 Arts Entertainment’s backing, Blue Iguana commences production in July.
And then there’s a story informing us Domhnall Gleeson is looking to lead Goodbye Christopher Robin, a biopic concerning Winnie the Pooh creator AA Milne and the relationship the author shared with his son, Robin. Despite the up-and-down qualities of their time together, Robin would, in various ways, serve as an inspiration for just about everything in his father’s most lasting work — from the obvious (Christopher Robin himself) to the more obscure (names of toys leading to the creation of several creatures).
Simon Curtis (Woman in Gold, the upcoming Intouchables remake) will direct from a script by Simon Vaughan (Ripper Street), while Pathé and Fox Searchlight are supporting the project.
Finally, a note on László Nemes‘ Son of Saul follow-up, Sunset. The project, most recently reported on here, will likely be shot, on 35mm, next spring with the crew from his debut feature — and while casting for the female lead is still underway, the possibility of a reunion with Saul himself, Géza Röhrig, remains open. In other words: hello, Cannes 2018! [Screen Daily]