From time to time, I will write about movies that have nothing to do with Pittsburgh.
Today, I found I'd completely missed that one of my favorite books, Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow had been optioned by Brad Pitt's production company. Three years ago! Apparently, a screenplay is in progress.
The book (and its sequel, Children of God) are amazing looks at all kinds of cultural clashes and miscommunications on an interplanetary scale. The Sparrow is completely brilliant, and Children of God is very good.
The rumor is that Brad Pitt may play the lead, Emilio Sandoz, but this had not been announced. I can't see Pitt as Sandoz. 13 years ago, when the book first came out, Antonio Banderas was associated with an earlier version of this adaptation. He would have been perfect. Sandoz needs to be fairly young, intense, but, at times, very joyful. He might be a bit too old now, but when I think of Sandoz, I still think of Banderas.
Some people have suggested that Alfred Molina may play the lead. Molina is a great actor, but way, way too old to be Sandoz (at least as he is in the book). He could play one of the Jesuits who...um...talk to Sandoz about his visit to the planet and what happened to the rest of his crewmembers.
Freddy Rodriguez might be able to pull Sandoz off. Jake Gyllenhall is an interesting idea. Maybe change Sandoz slightly so he was raised in the States (I'm not sure how he is with accents).
13 years ago, I could see Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman as Anne and George. Now...well, I do like the idea of Meryl Streep and Tom Wilkinson (who does a great American accent). Or maybe age Brad and let him play George.
Sonia is tricky, and, frankly, Angelina Jolie could pull her off if she has the right director. Angelina is kind of an erratic actress, but she can be brilliant with the right material and director.
The basic problem with The Sparrow that it's a very adult science fiction movie. It's not mere action adventure. It would be easy to break and tricky to market.
The movie needs an awful lot of CGI, for aliens and for Sandoz's hands after his imprisonment.
Nick Weschler, onboard as a producer, has some experience with grown-up SF - he's one of the producers of The Road, which looks extremely promising. But, he also was a producer on The Time Traveler's Wife, which was rumored to have been badly adapted and cast and still hasn't been released. I loved the book, so this was disappointing to hear.
Nick Seitzman has no experience writing a science fiction screenplay, but he did write North Country, which I haven't seen but heard it was pretty good.
So it'll be interesting to see if The Sparrow is ever made or if it remains in development hell.
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