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A Los Angeles Times article on the upcoming film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road (starring Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron) curiously dropped this little nugget of information: writer/director and sometimes actor Todd Field is currently working on an adaptation of McCarthy’s Blood Meridian novel. Ridley Scott had previously been attached to direct the tale, said to be a brutal 1850’s Western where Native Americans are slaughtered for profit.
Blood Meridian would be the fourth film adaptation of a McCarthy book, after 2000’s All the Pretty Horses, 2007’s No Country for Old Men (a Best Picture winner) and The Road, which due in theaters Nov. 11. McCarthy has arguably become the go-to author in
“His work examines our core, the two faces of violence that co-exist in every savage act - brutal strength of purpose holding hands with a desperate and cowering weakness,” Field told the L.A. Times.
Blood Meridian marks a stark contrast to Field’s previous works, the dark, depressing domestic dramas Little Children and In the Bedroom, the latter of which garnered a Best Picture nomination in 2001. Field is certainly an odd choice, but given his adapting pedigree (he’s a two-time Best Adapted Screenplay nominee) Blood Meridian seems to be in safe hands. It is rumored for a 2009 release.
The L.A. Times article also goes on to mention director Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) is also in the midst of adapting McCarthy's Cities of the Plain.
Related links:
Review: Cormac McCarthy - The Road
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thank god. ridley scott would have been so boring
Field is a GREAT choice! He is one of the only American filmmakers working today who can intelligently adapt dense literary material. Yes, his films are DARK. But look at Blood Meridian!
Field would seem to be a great choice. There's no other literature I can think of in the english language that is darker than 'Blood Meridian'.