WaterForElephants Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Francis Lawrence Heads for The Big House
Filed under: Action », Drama », Deals », Warner Brothers »
I might not be the biggest fan of prison movies (well, except Cool Hand Luke), but anything that could keep Francis Lawrence busy and away from an I Am Legend prequel is all right by me. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Lawrence has just signed to helm the story of the 1987 Atlanta Prison Riots for Warner Brothers. Black Hawk Down writer Mark Bowden came across the still-untitled project while researching Black Hawk, but did not have the time or resources to devote to the story. So here we are eight years later, and Bowden has enlisted the help of his brother, Aaron, to produce the film under the Wild Eyes banner.For those of you who are a little fuzzy on their penal history, here's a primer on what Lawrence will be working with: In 1987, the Atlanta State Medium Security Prison was one of the dumping grounds for Cuban refugees from the Mariel Boatlift who were ineligible to be released. When Cuba later agreed to repatriate 2500 inmates currently being held -- well, to be blunt, all holy hell broke loose. The ensuing riot lasted over 10 days with more than 100 hostages involved -- heck, inmates even burned down a substantial portion of the facility itself. In the end, it took the intervention of the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta to end the siege. Sounds pretty exciting, doesn't it?
But the bad news is that before Lawrence can get to work in the big house, he still has to finish developing Sara Gruen's historical novel, Water for Elephants for Fox 2000. Now if we could just do something about that Legend prequel ...
Fox 2000 Bringing 'Water for Elephants'
Filed under: Drama », Romance », Deals », Scripts », 20th Century Fox », Newsstand »
The bidding war is over, and Fox 2000 has emerged triumphant, clutching the rights to Sara Gruen's bestseller Water for Elephants, which they are promptly putting on the fast track. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Francis Lawrence is attached to direct, and Richard LaGravenese is adapting it for the big screen.I'll be honest and admit I haven't read the book -- I'm always behind when it comes to bestsellers because I tend to haunt the nonfiction and classic shelves. The book is the recollections of a 90-year-old man, who, in his youth, ran away and joined a B-level circus during the Depression. It's a job rife with animal and human cruelty. He falls in love with the wife of an abusive and mentally-ill animal trainer. While all of this suggests it is depressing as hell and ends badly, a glance through Amazon.com's reviews suggest otherwise.
Fox 2000 president Elizabeth Gabler acknowledges the riskiness of the subject matter, but is confident that the adaptation will attract "a lot of talented people," particuarly with LaGravenese's reputation as a solid "adapter". Here I want to say that an adaptation of a heart-wrenching and dramatic novel can't go wrong -- but it can. I can't really think of many New York Times bestsellers not named Cormac McCarthy or J.K. Rowling who end up with really solid and popular films. Otherwise, they tend to end up like Angela's Ashes and White Oleander which, while not terrible films, fell rather flat for most critics and fans of the material, and have largely been forgotten. Let's hope Water for Elephants will be one of the lucky ones -- and if you're a fan of the book, here's your chance to tell me what you hope they get right.
Universal Picks Up Action Flick 'Fury'
Filed under: Action », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », Deals », Universal », Scripts »
We've seen plenty of sports figures go on to make movies (like The Rock in this week's new release The Game Plan), but how often do they become screenwriters rather than actors? That is what happened to former Ohio State center Leonard Hartman. And the guy is really getting a number of breaks, in all sorts of genres. So far his only credit listed on the IMDb is a short called Gray Matter, but he's got a ton of projects in the pipeline. As we told you earlier in the year, he's adapting a Depression-era circus-set drama titled Water for Elephants and he wrote the spec script which became the upcoming Goosebumps movie. He also previously wrote a spec about the Homestead Act, which was to be made by the late Alan J. Pakula, and pitched another period piece idea that will be produced by screenwriter Gary Ross (Seabiscuit). Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Hartman has another spec script called Fury, which was just bought by Universal (also home to Goosebumps and the Ross pic).Like most projects announced in the trades, there's not much revealed in THR about the plot of Fury. But it is probably good to assume that it isn't a comic adaptation about Nick Fury, nor remake of Fritz Lang's classic (sorry if the photo is misleading, there wasn't anything better to use here). All that is known is that it's an action thriller about a group of special forces, and it has a bit of the ol' supernatural in it. Hopefully it will be about some kind of special forces team with supernatural powers -- you know, like basically a team of superheroes. The movie will be produced by Scott Stuber and Mary Parent, who are best known for You, Me and Dupree and The Kingdom, two very different films, and neither of which is like a comic-book-type actioner. I'm sure we'll find out more about Fury in the coming months or year, so stay tuned.
Circus Novel 'Water for Elephants' Optioned by Bourne Producer
Filed under: Drama », Deals », Scripts »
It's time for our next Depression-era drama about entertainers on the road. First there was Carnivàle, which dealt with heaven, hell and carnivals, with dusty healers and creepy preachers. Now a paperback that has been growing in popularity, Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants, has been picked up for an adaptation. Andrew R. Tennenbaum, who worked with Doug Liman to bring The Bourne Identity to the screen, used his own money for the option. Considering the fact that he spotted the cinema gem in Bourne, and feels strong enough about this project to use his own money, I imagine this could be a pretty funky project. Depressing, but funky.See, Elephants is about the life of Jacob Jankowski -- a man who spent most of his life in the circus. The book is told from him in his nineties, rotting away in a nursing home. When he was 21, and about to take exams at Cornell to become a vet, his parents died in a car crash. When he finds out that they were broke, and that they mortgaged everything to pay for his tuition, he can't complete his tests and runs off to join a crappy, second-string circus. Far from a life of glitter and wonder, he deals with abused animals, a circus leader with a penchant for violence and other craziness. And, just to make life more difficult, Jankowski falls for the wife of the circus' crazy animal trainer. Interestingly enough, the script will be written by Leonard Hartman, whose last project was the upcoming Goosebumps -- you know, the R. L. Stine creepy children's book. While there is no word yet on a director or cast, since it's just in the baby stages, I wonder if it'll give us out next chance for more Michael J. Anderson.
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