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“I tried to make it, but couldn’t get the money. Now it keeps becoming more important.”
-- Francis Ford Coppola
During a Parisian interview back in 1997, Coppola reveled that he originally wanted to shoot “On the Road” in black and white using 16mm film; unfortunately, a lack of means gave way to a shelved result and the would-be film sat for another eight years.
Now Coppola has the support of Universal Pictures’ Focus Features, Pathe International and his own production company American Zoetrope, along with a slew of motion picture professionals to help the project along. “The Motorcycle Diaries” executive producer Rebecca Yeldham will produce, Walter Salles will direct, Jose Rivera will compose the screenplay and Robert Rock, John H. Williams and Coppola will all serve as executive producers.
“The book is inherently difficult to adapt to the screen, and we’ve never quite found the right combination of director and writer to do it justice until now.”
-- Francis Ford Coppola
Coppola acquired the rights to produce “On the Road” back in 1968 as a young director - before he made “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now.” In the decades that preceded his purchase, Coppola toughed through four screenplay writers until finding a comfortable fit with Jose Rivera, a collaborator in the critically acclaimed 2004 film “The Motorcycle Diaries.”
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Some may question if the sometimes tortured-artist mind of Kerouac would want to see his novel come to life on the big screen. His desires for a film version to be made were recently unearthed when collection of Marlon Brando’s personal items were auctioned off in New York. Among the relics was a personal letter from Kerouac to the movie star. The note, which sold for an impressive $33,600, read:
“I’m praying that you’ll buy “On the Road” and make a movie of it…Don’t worry about the structure, I know [you will have] to compress and rearrange the plot a bit to give a perfectly acceptable move-type structure: making it into one all-inclusive trip instead of the several voyages coast-to-coast in the book, one vast round trip from New York to Denver to Frisco to Mexico to New Orleans to New York again. I visualize the beautiful shots could be made with the camera on the front seat of the car showing the road (day and night) unwinding into the windshield, as Sal and Dean yak. I wanted you to play the part because Dean (as you know) is no dopey hot-trotter but a real intelligent (in fact Jesuit) Irishman. You play Dean and I’ll play Sal (Warner Bros. mentioned I play Sal) and I’ll show you how Dean acts in real life…we can go visit him in Frisco or have him come down to L.A, [he’s] still a real frantic cat… Come on now Marlon, put up your dukes and write!”
“All things are like visions beyond the reach of the human mind.”
-- Jack Kerouac
"On the Road" and Jack’s other novels have made a significant impact on American literature. His “spontaneous prose” told tales of the Beat generation, making him the talented and reluctant spokesman for the hip youth of the 1950s.
Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" is a wandering narrative told in a continuous block of text and is a relic of a literary phenomenon. The “On the Road” scroll was sold at an auction for $2.4 million and is currently on a four-year world tour of museums and libraries.
Stay tuned to JackKerouac.com for more details on the “On the Road” movie, including casting choices and release date information.
Anyone found anything else about this?
I'll be waiting for it for sure
-- Francis Ford Coppola
During a Parisian interview back in 1997, Coppola reveled that he originally wanted to shoot “On the Road” in black and white using 16mm film; unfortunately, a lack of means gave way to a shelved result and the would-be film sat for another eight years.
Now Coppola has the support of Universal Pictures’ Focus Features, Pathe International and his own production company American Zoetrope, along with a slew of motion picture professionals to help the project along. “The Motorcycle Diaries” executive producer Rebecca Yeldham will produce, Walter Salles will direct, Jose Rivera will compose the screenplay and Robert Rock, John H. Williams and Coppola will all serve as executive producers.
“The book is inherently difficult to adapt to the screen, and we’ve never quite found the right combination of director and writer to do it justice until now.”
-- Francis Ford Coppola
Coppola acquired the rights to produce “On the Road” back in 1968 as a young director - before he made “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now.” In the decades that preceded his purchase, Coppola toughed through four screenplay writers until finding a comfortable fit with Jose Rivera, a collaborator in the critically acclaimed 2004 film “The Motorcycle Diaries.”
_____________________________________
Some may question if the sometimes tortured-artist mind of Kerouac would want to see his novel come to life on the big screen. His desires for a film version to be made were recently unearthed when collection of Marlon Brando’s personal items were auctioned off in New York. Among the relics was a personal letter from Kerouac to the movie star. The note, which sold for an impressive $33,600, read:
“I’m praying that you’ll buy “On the Road” and make a movie of it…Don’t worry about the structure, I know [you will have] to compress and rearrange the plot a bit to give a perfectly acceptable move-type structure: making it into one all-inclusive trip instead of the several voyages coast-to-coast in the book, one vast round trip from New York to Denver to Frisco to Mexico to New Orleans to New York again. I visualize the beautiful shots could be made with the camera on the front seat of the car showing the road (day and night) unwinding into the windshield, as Sal and Dean yak. I wanted you to play the part because Dean (as you know) is no dopey hot-trotter but a real intelligent (in fact Jesuit) Irishman. You play Dean and I’ll play Sal (Warner Bros. mentioned I play Sal) and I’ll show you how Dean acts in real life…we can go visit him in Frisco or have him come down to L.A, [he’s] still a real frantic cat… Come on now Marlon, put up your dukes and write!”
“All things are like visions beyond the reach of the human mind.”
-- Jack Kerouac
"On the Road" and Jack’s other novels have made a significant impact on American literature. His “spontaneous prose” told tales of the Beat generation, making him the talented and reluctant spokesman for the hip youth of the 1950s.
Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" is a wandering narrative told in a continuous block of text and is a relic of a literary phenomenon. The “On the Road” scroll was sold at an auction for $2.4 million and is currently on a four-year world tour of museums and libraries.
Stay tuned to JackKerouac.com for more details on the “On the Road” movie, including casting choices and release date information.
Anyone found anything else about this?
I'll be waiting for it for sure
) and b/c I recently read Dharma Bums (yes, I was a Kerouac Virgin) and I really look forward to reading OTR before the movie comes out.
![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")