Blood Meridian (D: Hillcoat)
01-04-11, 11:09 AM
#1
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Blood Meridian (D: Hillcoat)
"James Franco is currently attending school and is attached to no less than six projects, including a few based on books that he optioned. Now comes word that he has optioned two more books, which he plans to direct himself.
One of the films is based on the work of Cormac McCarthy, whose books "No Country For Old Men," "The Road" and "All the Pretty Horses" have all made it to the big screen. The novel is "Blood Meridian" and Franco is in the process of making a deal with producer Scott Rudin to write and direct the film in 2012.
Plot: Based on historical events that took place on the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s, it traces the fortunes of the Kid, a fourteen-year-old Tennessean who stumbles into the nightmarish world where Indians are being murdered and the market for their scalps is thriving."
Read more: http://worstpreviews.com/headline.ph...#ixzz1A5TXHlEf
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Would this be Franco's first directorial gig? I like him as an actor, especially after 127 Hours, but this seems like a tough project for a first timer.
One of the films is based on the work of Cormac McCarthy, whose books "No Country For Old Men," "The Road" and "All the Pretty Horses" have all made it to the big screen. The novel is "Blood Meridian" and Franco is in the process of making a deal with producer Scott Rudin to write and direct the film in 2012.
Plot: Based on historical events that took place on the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s, it traces the fortunes of the Kid, a fourteen-year-old Tennessean who stumbles into the nightmarish world where Indians are being murdered and the market for their scalps is thriving."
Read more: http://worstpreviews.com/headline.ph...#ixzz1A5TXHlEf
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Would this be Franco's first directorial gig? I like him as an actor, especially after 127 Hours, but this seems like a tough project for a first timer.
01-04-11, 11:28 AM
#2
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Blood Meridian (2012) to be directed by James Franco
The other film that he will direct is based on William Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying."
01-04-11, 11:52 AM
#3
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Blood Meridian (2012) to be directed by James Franco
Franco has directed numerous shorts and just finished up another feature, The Broken Tower. With the creative roll this guy has been on, i'm interested in pretty much anything he does (minus Eat Pray Love)
Last edited by sauce07; 01-04-11 at 11:59 AM.
01-04-11, 11:53 AM
#4
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01-04-11, 02:15 PM
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Re: Blood Meridian (2012) to be directed by James Franco
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01-04-11, 03:34 PM
#9
Re: Blood Meridian (2012) to be directed by James Franco
01-04-11, 03:38 PM
#10
Re: Blood Meridian (2012) to be directed by James Franco
01-04-11, 08:04 PM
#11
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: Blood Meridian (2012) to be directed by James Franco
apparently here's how he got the job:
Originally Posted by slashfilm
When it comes to Blood Meridian, the question of casting looms large. Who would play central character The Judge, who is an utter giant of an albino? Well, Franco was so determined to get the gig making the film that he shot some test footage to present to Scott Rudin. And in that footage he cast Mark Pellegrino, aka one of the rug pissers from The Big Lebowski, and Jacob from Lost. (Scott Glenn, Luke Perry and Dave Franco also appeared.) Note that this does not mean that those actors will necessarily be cast in the actual film, whatever happens.
Originally Posted by james franco
We made that as a way to convince Scott Rudin to give us the rights. It was like, why should he give it to me when Ridley Scott didn’t make it? So I called him up and said, ‘I’m planning on doing this. You don’t have to give me any money, I can finance this shoot. Would you just wait? Don’t do anything with it until I show this to you.’ And I showed it to him and he loved it.
01-04-11, 09:38 PM
#14
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Blood Meridian (2012) to be directed by James Franco
I'll watch it. Loved the book and it can't be any worse adaptation than what Thornton did with All the Pretty Horses.
01-04-11, 09:43 PM
#15
Re: Blood Meridian (2012) to be directed by James Franco
I thought All the Pretty Horses was an average movie that with the additional footage would have been pretty good. The look and score were excellent.
01-04-11, 09:48 PM
#16
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Blood Meridian (2012) to be directed by James Franco
That's the thing. It was just very average and just seemed to lose some of the life that the book had. I like Matt Damon but he wasn't right for the part. I thought both No Country & The Road were great adaptations.
01-04-11, 10:04 PM
#17
Re: Blood Meridian (2012) to be directed by James Franco
I guess it could be said he failed because he tried to film the entire book as opposed to the essential story but with the different turns that the current film version takes, I don't know how you could cut them from the story as they build Damon's character through the journey. If anything, it needed more story and that's why I give him an incomplete based on the Weinsteins' editing issues.
01-06-11, 10:30 AM
#18
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: Blood Meridian (2012) to be directed by James Franco
As they said, it may not ever come to fruition, but Franco has surprised me as an actor several times, so it will be interesting to see what develops. I heard that Tommy Lee Jones tried for several years to get the film made. No matter who does it and no matter how good it is, I'm sure it will seem deficient.
As for Judge Holden, I think the professional wrestler Kane (Glen Thomas Jacobs) would be a good choice.
As for Judge Holden, I think the professional wrestler Kane (Glen Thomas Jacobs) would be a good choice.
Last edited by Quatermass; 01-06-11 at 12:41 PM.
01-17-11, 08:21 PM
#19
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Re: Blood Meridian (2012) to be directed by James Franco
Ahh!! This is great news! I love James Franco, and Blood Meridian is a terrific book—I just read it for the first time a few weeks ago and only heard about it after The Road came out. If it's as good as No Country For Old Man, I'm going to have to petition that they just drop everything and make all three of The Borders Trilogy books into films ASAP!
07-31-11, 11:08 PM
#20
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: Blood Meridian (2012) to be directed by James Franco
Just finished the book and have serious doubts about Franco's ability to pull off an adaptation. The book is ridiculously violent for one, and two, McCarthy's prose is what makes Meridian so incredible a read. I really enjoyed the adaptation of McCarthy's The Road as the setting and tone were pretty much spot-on, but the beauty of the writing didn't translate at all. But because it's a much slimmer volume, I was happy that they at least got the grim setting and the desperation of the father right. BM is long and complex (the settings are wildly varied) and entirely grotesque with a cast of characters you spend the novel rooting against. Adapting this is an impossible task, IMO.
For the look, sure, but that role will take some serious acting chops to counter how absurd he looks (hairless and mostly naked for most of the story). It's like Kurtz on steroids.
Originally Posted by Quartermass
As for Judge Holden, I think the professional wrestler Kane (Glen Thomas Jacobs) would be a good choice.
08-01-11, 10:06 AM
#21
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: Blood Meridian (2012) to be directed by James Franco
05-05-16, 12:31 PM
#22
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Blood Meridian (2012) to be directed by James Franco
James Franco, Russell Crowe, IM Global team on Scott Rudin's 'Blood Meridian'
http://www.screendaily.com/festivals...ontentID=40562
IM Global will launch international sales on the Croisette on Blood Meridian and is co-financing the project, while CAA represents US rights.
James Franco will direct and star alongside Russell Crowe, Tye Sheridan, Ryan Reynolds and Vincent D’Onofrio. Further casting attachments are anticipated.
Like Rudin, who steered the McCarthy adaptation No Country For Old Men to worldwide success, Franco is a devout McCarthy fan.
Franco wooed Blood Meridian rights-holder Rudin years ago with test footage but there was no deal, so he headed off to shoot McCarthy adaptation Child Of God instead.
Now it would appear the younger man’s tenacity has prevailed and the project will proceed. Rudin will produce alongside Cassian Elwes and Franco’s partner at Rabbit Bandini, Vince Jolivette.
Blood Meridian, published in 1985, follows a young character known only as “the Kid” and his encounters in the mid-19th Century West with a violent group of scalp hunters known as the Glanton Gang.
The renowned literary critic Harold Bloom once described the book as “the ultimate Western.”
IM Global declined to comment on the project.
James Franco will direct and star alongside Russell Crowe, Tye Sheridan, Ryan Reynolds and Vincent D’Onofrio. Further casting attachments are anticipated.
Like Rudin, who steered the McCarthy adaptation No Country For Old Men to worldwide success, Franco is a devout McCarthy fan.
Franco wooed Blood Meridian rights-holder Rudin years ago with test footage but there was no deal, so he headed off to shoot McCarthy adaptation Child Of God instead.
Now it would appear the younger man’s tenacity has prevailed and the project will proceed. Rudin will produce alongside Cassian Elwes and Franco’s partner at Rabbit Bandini, Vince Jolivette.
Blood Meridian, published in 1985, follows a young character known only as “the Kid” and his encounters in the mid-19th Century West with a violent group of scalp hunters known as the Glanton Gang.
The renowned literary critic Harold Bloom once described the book as “the ultimate Western.”
IM Global declined to comment on the project.
05-05-16, 04:10 PM
#23
DVD Talk Legend
re: Blood Meridian (D: Hillcoat)
Well, so much for that...
Russell Crowe's 'Blood Meridian' Deal Falls Apart Over Book Rights Issue
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...eridian-891007
Russell Crowe's 'Blood Meridian' Deal Falls Apart Over Book Rights Issue
The project is now being shelved because the filmmakers didn't have the rights to the novel.
The splashy Cannes package Blood Meridian has fallen apart.
Though Russell Crowe had been in talks to star in James Franco's adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, all of the deals are off because the filmmakers didn't have the rights to the novel.
The splashy Cannes package Blood Meridian has fallen apart.
Though Russell Crowe had been in talks to star in James Franco's adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, all of the deals are off because the filmmakers didn't have the rights to the novel.
05-05-16, 04:36 PM
#25
re: Blood Meridian (D: Hillcoat)
This isn't the first time Franco has done this. He had the rights to Bukowski's Ham on Rye...was writing it...lost the rights...made the film anyway. And now it is just sitting on the shelf.