First picking up the project nearly five years ago, Robert Redford has finally found a director for his adaptation of Bill Bryson’s memoir A Walk in the Woods. After passing through the hands of helmers such as Chris Columbus and Barry Levinson, Redford has connect with a filmmaker who recently stopped by his Sundance Film Festival to great success.
According to the LA Times, Richard Linklater is negotiating to helm the project, which would mark his next project following this summer’s Before Midnight. Independently financed, Redford is still set to star in the film alongside his Company You Keep star Nick Nolte and the latest draft of the script comes from Pulitzer winner Richard Russo.
Redford will be taking the role of Bryson, while Nolte plays Stephen Katz, two childhood friends who reunite for an outdoor trip, as they attempt to conquer the Appalachian Trail. This isn’t a survival story of sorts, however, rather Redford says, “It’s the kind of movie that has something to say but can also be really commercial because it’s just so funny. It will be nice to get back to doing a comedy.” As we follow two people “making sly observations about the world around them and their own lives,” we couldn’t imagine a better fit for the director, coming off his own stellar work with the same conceit.
Production could kick off this fall for a likely 2014 release, which should give Redford more than enough time to work on his S.H.I.E.L.D. duties.
Are you looking forward to this collaboration?