This is the best movie news I have heard in quite some time.
Cormac McCarthy’s searing, Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Road continues to simmer below the surface of movie development news. After being featured on Oprah’s Book of the Month club, the reclusive author’s book shot up to the top of the charts and scored interest in Hollywood.
No doubt there were many shocked Oprah readers that particular month. The Road is a poetic vision of the end of the world and the human race after a nuclear conflagration. Its plot revolves around an unnamed, unrelated man and boy as they accompany each other down a long, ashen roadway to the sea – and, hopefully, safety.
Haunting, unsympathetic, and absolutely brilliant, the book was picked up by Australian director John Hillcoat. Not much has been heard about the ongoing development of this project – until now.
In an interview with MTV Movies Blog, the always-intense Viggo Mortensen mentioned The Road as his next film after Eastern Promises is finished.
AWESOME!!!
Here’s what our favorite Aragorn had to say:
“There’s a book called ‘The Road’ by Cormac McCarthy. They’re going to make a movie of that and the people making [it] have expressed interest [in me]. Visually, it’s going to be a very beautiful movie. It’s a very good story,” Mortensen said.
Viggo is absolutely PERFECT for the role of the unnamed male protagonist. Not only does he have a serious vibe, but he also carries himself in a very quiet, masculine fashion; it’s almost as if McCarthy wrote the role with Viggo in mind.
If you haven’t read the book, DO IT NOW. If you let this chilling and unforgiving book into your head, it will haunt you always.
I have no idea if they can pull off a movie version of it … but it MUST HAPPEN!!
(geez … I’m starting to write like Harry Knowles …)
The book really is amazing. It grabs you emotionally and never lets go. The way McCarthy wrote this leaves you in some serious despair after THE END.
I am extremely excited about Mortensen playing this role. I hope this goes through. I just really hope they don’t choose Shia LaBeouf or Zac Effron for the kid.
YIKES!
Well, Zac Efron would be perfect in the movie. He could play a corpse lying by the side of the road.
Damn, Viggo Mortensen knows how to pick films. Lord of the Rings is whatever it is, of course, but still an excellent choice for good work and incredible exposure.
Then, his growing relationship with the great David Cronenberg who is essentially an actor’s director (Dead Ringers, eXistenZ, A History of Violence).
Now this choice. Even someone as respected as a Paul Giamatti doesn’t make choices this good.
Norm S.
http://www.meetinthelobby.com
@ Norm – I agree completely. He’s a chamelion-like actor, too, able to disappear into a role. It’s great that the guy didn’t cash in his “Lord of the Rings” chips on a bunch of blockbuster money-grabs, but instead went for more interesting, diverse, and low-key films .. it says a lot about him.
I haven’t read the book, but it sounds really good. Can’t wait for this one.