BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES is a novel by Tom Wolfe that seems rife for an adaptation, especially now. It is a story that deals with racism, classism, and even with the expectations of trying to uphold the ideals of journalism in a world that demands sensationalism (being set in the '80s the novel deals more with tabloid magazines, but that still applies to 24-hour news channels today.) Just…a whole lot of important -isms. The story begins when a fateful car crash involving a rich, white stockbroker kills a young black teen, which then leads to a high-profile lawsuit and subsequent media frenzy. While there was a prior, big-budget adaptation directed by Brian DePalma and starring Tom Hanks, it was however a critical and commercial failure.
Anyway, it looks like Amazon is taking up the mantle of making another adaptation, and trying to do the story justice this time. And the person they tapped to bring the novel to life is…well, if you read the headline you already know it's f*cking Chuck Lorre of TWO AND A HALF MEN and BIG BANG THEORY fame.
I mean, look, you might like those shows, fine, whatever. Different strokes and all that shit. Thing is, while the story of BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES deals with heavy issues (even if it's sometimes with a nasty streak of dark humor), Chuck Lorre seems to be more miscast for this gig than, well…Bruce Willis was as Peter Fallow in Brian DePalma's adaptation.
But who knows? A lot of people thought it was weird when Jordon Peele of KEY AND PEELE fame decided to make a horror film, and that looks promising. So I'll keep an open mind for now (I'd love for Lorre to prove me wrong).
Anyway, Amazon, with the help of Warner entertainment, is hoping to make an eight-episode "event" series (which seems to be just a fancier term for "miniseries") of BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES, which is in the early stages of production. No word yet on if it will be modernized or will retain the novel's 1980s setting.
So what do you guys think? And any fans of Chuck Lorre's oeveure (which judging by how popular his stuff is, seems more than likely)? If so, why?