It’s been a hurricane of a week for Cormac McCarthy and his novel THE ROAD. First it was selected as the latest entry to Empress Winfrey’s celebrated book club. Then just two days ago it was announced that Joe Penhall (ENDURING LOVE) would pen the script for a planned adaptation of the post-apocalyptic book, and now comes word that the project has found its director. John Hillcoat, who directed last year’s little-seen but much-heralded THE PROPOSITION is officially on board, which, if you’ve seen THE PROPOSITION, bodes well for this project. Anything associated with Oprah is bound to be a big property, so it’s Hillcoat’s chance to make a real name for himself in the industry. Lucky bastard.
I’ve picked up THE ROAD and read the first few pages, and if I was capable of completing anything in my life (the fact that this article will end is a miracle) I would have bought the book then and there and finished it within a few days. It was that good. Dark, dusty, shattered, violent and gripping.
In Roger Ebert’s review of THE PROPROSITION he says it is the closest a film has ever come to realizing the carnage and dread of Cormac McCarthy’s masterpiece BLOOD MERIDIAN. Needless to say then, that Hillcoat is tapped into the same artistic plane as McCarthy, and seems like the perfect fit to bring his novel to life.