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Tommy Lee Jones Signs On for 'Islands in the Stream'

by Monika Bartyzel May 14th 2008 // 8:02PM

Filed under: Drama, Deals, Scripts, Cinematical Indie, War

Baby, when I met you there was peace unknown. I set out to get you with a fine tooth comb..

Okay, sorry. I couldn't resist. Like Ryan back in January, I had to start this with a little "Islands in the Stream," Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers style. (Btw: Did you know it was written by the Bee Gees?) Anyhow, back in January, we learned that Tommy Lee Jones was circling a new adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's first posthumous novel, Islands in the Stream. Now The Hollywood Reporter posts that Jones has signed on to adapt, direct, produce, and star in the project, which will be presented to buyers at Cannes.

Stream follows an American painter, Thomas Hudson, tucked away in the Bahamas. Through three acts, the reader is introduced to Hudson's life, from the arrival of his sons to his island getaway, to alcoholism and naval reconnaissance during WWII, to Hudson's desire to pursue a ship of German soldiers who killed an entire village. At one point, there was also a fourth part, but it was removed and became the epically popular The Old Man and the Sea.

Jones taking this on is fine, but I have to wonder about his co-writer, Bill Witliff -- writer of The Perfect Storm. That flick wasn't my cup of tea. At least, between that and Legends of the Fall, we know that his projects end up being Oscar winning or nominated features for their visuals and sound, which might be a good combination with Jones' more subdued style.

With Jones moving forward on this project, it looks like we're getting a bit of a Hemingway renaissance. Or maybe more aptly, a posthumous renaissance -- we've also got one of my favorite books on the way -- his posthumous The Garden of Eden, which has wrapped production but not posted a release date. As for Islands, it's set to go into production next March.

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Tags: Bill WItliff, BillWitliff, Cinematical, Ernest Hemingway, ErnestHemingway, Islands in the Stream, IslandsInTheStream, Tommy Lee Jones, TommyLeeJones

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