Ron Howard and JJ Abrams teaming up for the fantasy All I’ve Got

When I read the headline that Ron Howard and JJ Abrams were teaming up to bring a film with fantasy elements to the big screen, I was half hoping this was the long awaited DARK TOWER news finally coming true. But, alas, it is not THE DARK TOWER. I guess I will have to deal with another project for the two.

Instead of filming Stephen King‘s opus, Howard has signed on to direct the tentatively titled ALL I’VE GOT, based on the 2003 Israeli TV movie KOL MA SHE’YESH LI. The original film follows a woman named Tamara who survives a freak car accident that, sadly, claims the life of her boyfriend, Udi. Years later, after Tamara has re-married and raised a family with a new man, she passes away and moves on to the afterlife, where she is given a difficult choice: Forget her life, and return to the time before the accident, where she lived happily with Udi; or remain as she currently is and wait, patiently, for her husband and children to join her in paradise.

That story sounds very similar to the Robin Williams‘ movie WHAT DREAMS MAY COME, although not nearly as depressing. JJ Abrams will produce the remake via Bad Robot and it will be distributed by Paramount.

Ron Howard is a very hit or miss director, in my opinion. While he has directed fantastic films like BACKDRAFT, RANSOM, APOLLO 13, PARENTHOOD, and WILLOW, he has also directed mediocre films like THE DA VINCI CODE, EDTV, HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, and THE DILEMMA. Howard is not a flashy director and doesn’t really have a signature look to his movies, but he does do a great job focusing on characters. While ALL I’VE GOT sounds like it could be made without creating a CGI vision of heaven, Howard could take it in a very unique direction.

I am intrigued to see where this project goes.