Francis Lawrence Back On Board Survivor Movie?
I really fought posting about this. You see, in my many years running this site, I've seen this sort of thing happen over and over again. A director (Francis Lawrence) has a new movie coming out (I Am Legend), and so the press machine kicks in. During that process, the director is asked every question under the sun. But the most popular question usually comes in the form of: "So what are you directing next?" And it's at this point, that anything the director says is completely spun out of control. People blog about it. Post about it. It even ends up on the IMDB. But most times, it simply isn't totally accurate, nor does it ever come true.
Here's the quote from Francis Lawrence that has every film site online right now posting this story:
“I’m working on the book Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk that I’m working on with a friend… It’s a great book. I love that book. So we’ve been working on that.”
Now, I held off on posting about this right away because, really, the above does not say that 'Survivor' is going to be his next project. I also wanted to talk to Chuck first. I'll be doing this shortly, but right now, in the greedy interest of not missing out on well-earned traffic to our site, I'll jump on board the train (ahem, I mean plane) and give our take on the story.
I honestly think Lawrence has a lot of projects in front of him right now. It doesn't matter how good or bad I Am Legend is, nor how well it does. This guy is going to get offered a (and is definitely already being offered) a juicy array of big projects next. And I'm sure he'll also be wanting to develop a cache of past notable projects too.
Enter Survivor.
I can tell you now that Chuck could very well be as out of the loop as we all are. He may just know that the option for the book adapatation is still in Lawrence's hands, and that yes, he is intent on making it. But really, the only question here is will he make it his next film.
If anyone in the industry can reach out to us with something other than gossip over one quote, we'd appreciate it.
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Comments
RutRoh!
I really hope Lawrence breaks his head (figuratively) and doesn't get to direct SURVIVOR. He'd rape whatever quality the project has. Why they offer high quality stuff to fuckhead directors, I do not know.
Hmm, I don't know what to say but after watching Choke footage i really think or idealise all Palahniuk adaptations as David Fincher vehicles. Fight Club was such a standout i dont know if i will accept any other director approach, but having said that, Chuck obviously approved of the final cut for Choke and will hopefully have final say on who directs Survivor also. But Haunted has got to be either Fincher or possibly Burton since Kubrick aint around to keep it dark like it should be. Eternally optimistic from down under.
It's not about art or dramatic context, its about business unfortunately. At least the mere fact Sundance worked with Choke gives it a degree of artistic responsibility.
I doubt Chuck has any say about who directs his stuff anymore. That all usually goes out the window when you sell the film rights.
I say give the director's chair to Fincher again. I trust him with another Chuck P. adaptation.
Yeah, if only Stan "Da Man" Kubrick was still kicking.