gone like the wind Tagged Articles at Cinematical

What do you get when you cross Citizen Kane with Ruthless People? Something that sounds like the greatest movie ever, right? Well, we'll see if that's really what we get when Peter Berg makes a movie about the kidnapping of teenage heir J. Paul Getty III. According to Variety, the actor/director is developing a project based on John Pearson's book "Painfully Rich: The Outrageous Fortune and Misfortunes of the Heirs of J. Paul Getty" (with that title, it sounds like another Bette Midler movie is thrown into the mix, too). For those who don't know the story, 16 year old Getty III was abducted in Rome and the kidnappers demanded $17 million. But his miserly grandfather -- the founder of Getty Oil -- initially refused to pay up. At first everyone thought the kid was pulling a prank. Eventually the poor teen's ear was mailed to the family. Finally, gramps paid, though he only did so with the assurance he'd be paid back by Getty II (his son) ... with interest. As for Getty III, well he became totally screwed up, turned to drugs and his life was ruined forever. Thanks grandpa!

The trade doesn't mention whether or not Berg, whose new film, The Kingdom, is now in theaters, will direct the pic; he's currently shooting the washed-up superhero movie Hancock, starring Will Smith, and then he's linked to a few other projects, including the true Navy SEAL story Lone Survivorr, the racehorse drama Gone Like the Wind, the Cheung fo remake The Mission and the fantasy Bran Mak Morn. He will definitely be involved in producing the Getty film, through his company Film 44, along with Working Title's Chris Clark (Catch a Fire). The adaptation of Pearson's book is being written by Robin Shushman, an apparent newbie (no IMDb listing) who is also currently writing the script for The Contortionist's Handbook. Hopefully she will make the thing twisted enough, and possibly add in some relevance to how good today's spoiled heirs have it.

Less than six months have passed since Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was euthanized, and he's already headed to the big screen. Peter Berg, the man behind Very Bad Things and Friday Night Lights, is going to helm and produce a feature adaptation of Gone Like the Wind -- his cousin Buzz Bissinger's Vanity Fair article about the many attempts to keep the horse alive. Talk about depressing premises -- a movie about the struggle to keep a horse alive, and ultimately failing. I can't wait to see how they plan to spin it to make the inevitable end more bearable. This marks the second time Berg will bring his cousin's writing to the big screen -- Buzz wrote the article that Lights was based on, so that bodes well for the film. The director already has a few projects on his plate, however, so I imagine it will be a while before we see what he makes of it.

These days, If there is any horse story that people well beyond the world of thoroughbred racing would know -- it's Barbaro's. Last year, he was an undefeated horse heading into the Kentucky Derby. He won the race with ease, won the hearts of horse fans and headed to the Preakness Stakes as the big favorite. After a false start, Barbaro was led back to the gate, the race began, and he quickly shattered his right hind leg. That's serious but manageable for humans, but it's pretty deathly for horses. For a while, however, it seemed as if he might make it -- there were a number of surgeries and things seemed to be going well. Then serious complications arose in January of this year, and Barbaro was euthanized. The end. As great as the advances in horse care are, accomplishments that let him fight as long as he did, I really don't see how they can provide enough to keep moviegoers from diving for the razor blades.