Theron Joins Viggo on 'The Road'
Filed under: Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Casting, The Weinstein Co., Newsstand
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At last count, it looked like Guy Pearce might have been replacing Viggo Mortensen in the upcoming adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Fortunately (and no offense, Guy) it looks like Viggo is still on board ... plus he just got a gal named Charlize Theron as a co-star. According to Variety, the Oscar-winning blonde will play the main character's wife, a small but important character who will appear mostly through flashbacks.An admitted fan of the source material, Ms. Theron will be working alongside director John Hillcoat (of the excellent The Proposition) and screenwriter Joe Penhall (of the strangely entertaining Enduring Love). The adaptation, which is being produced by 2929 Entertainment and distributed by the Weinsteins' Dimension Films, tells the story of "a man who embarks on a nightmarish road trip after a nuclear explosion in an attempt to transport his son to safety while fending off cannibals." Awesome.
And thanks also to Variety for the reminder: I need a good book for my Sundance flight -- and The Road is definitely going to be it. I think that will be the first "Oprah's Book Club" selection that I've ever read. (No offense, Oprah.)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-01-2008 @ 11:05AM
kyle said...
These constant comparisons to zombie flicks are pretty disheartening. I really hope this is not the case. If the story needs to be compared to an existing film.. 'Savior' starring Dennis Quaid, which i believe did not do very well at all ats its release, because the action was not the focus. But the constant threat of it happening, struggling in a landscape made bleak by war, the frailty of humanity, witnessing real barbaric acts as seen by a bystander, and life-or-death decisions that DID NOT involve shooting up hordes of ..whatever, is what made it a great film. You'd have to see it to know the difference i mean. And if you think it sucks, then you probably won't like 'The Road' either.
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2-06-2008 @ 3:31PM
jrkinsella said...
***DOUBLE SPOILER ALERT***
To anyone who has read the book:
Who thinks it's ironic that this will be the second movie in which Charlize Theron plays the main character's wife who kills herself by slashing her throat with a piece of glass. (The first being Devil's Advocate of course). I wonder if she auditioned for Shammy's new mass suicide epic. Nah, wouldn't want to be type cast.
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1-15-2008 @ 10:57AM
honey said...
I'm really happy that Viggo Mortensen is still attached to this film. I can't imagine anyone else inhabiting the depth (and slight weirdness) of this role better than Viggo. Charlize is also powerful and I look forward to watching it (and crying my eyes out).
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1-15-2008 @ 3:35PM
ansky said...
Its worth reading, even if O has us by the plums. I got my hands on it just around when Ms Winfrey(if youre nasty) was sniffing at it. Its one of the few books i couldnt put down, as easy and cliche as that is to say. It just had me sucked in the whole time. Im a fan of McCarthy's barebones style and it fit this context quite well.
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1-18-2008 @ 6:55PM
Thad Garrison said...
"a man who embarks on a nightmarish road trip after a nuclear explosion in an attempt to transport his son to safety while fending off cannibals."
They've already changed the book too much. One of the most powerful aspects of the novel is that it doesn't specify the cause of the post-apocalyptic setting - it simply sets you down in the aftermath as if you, like anyone else who has survived it, already know what happened.
The book is about a father-son relationship and all of the simplicity AND complexity that drives parents to protect.
Also - "fending of cannibals" makes it sound like they are turning it into 28 Days Later. I really hope they don't screw it up by trying to make it more palatable. As the Coen brothers have keenly and expertly shown -- Cormac McCarthy's works can be translated directly to screen without embellishing them with cheap Hollywood novelty.
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