Kristen Stewart, Sam Riley and Garrett Hedlund have all been confirmed for director Walter Salles’ long-anticipated big-screen adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. The film, which has a relatively small budget of $25 million dollars, will be produced by French production banner MK2 in collaboration with Film 4 in the U.K. and Videofilmes in Brazil.
EW announced that On the Road will start shooting August 1 in New Orleans and Montreal. The timing is perfect for Stewart who has promotional duties for Twilight’s Eclipse in June and the beginning of production for Breaking Dawn in October.
On the Road is a semi-biographical work from Kerouac that follows his spontaneous road trips with friends across 50’s America in the pursuit of self-knowledge and experience. Stewart will play Mary Lou, the young bride of Dean Moriarty, who’ll be played by star Garrett Hedlund (Tron Legacy, Friday Night Lights). Sam Riley will play lead Kerouac surrogate and protagonist Sal Paradise.
Oscar-nominated writer Jose Rivera (The Motorcycle Diaries) has penned the adaptation for Salles.
Stewart may not have a big part in this film, but her past roles in indie flicks such as The Runaways, Adventureland and Into the Wild, have made her a noteworthy actress in spite of the criticism she has received for her acting in the Twilight franchise. What she makes of her role in this film will be interesting to see.
What do you think of cast for On the Road? Is the budget too small?