If you don’t know, The Road by Cormac McCarthy was my favorite book from 2006 and probably one of my favorites of all-time. Not only was it an amazing, unique story, but it went on to win a Pulitzer Prize for McCarthy.
I’ve been following the production of the movie a bit, obviously from the first day I heard it was going to be made into a movie and that Viggo Mortensen would play the lead character of the father. I can’t tell you how fantastic a choice it was to pick Viggo for this movie…he’ll do an amazing job. He has that ability to play a tired, weary, hard-luck guy and that’s what is needed here.
It’s now being reported that Charlize Theron will be joining Viggo in the film, which is good news considering what a great actress she is, but also puzzling news in the way the book goes.
Without giving too much away, the story is mainly about a father and his son trying to survive in a world around 2-4 years after a nuclear holocaust in the United States. You never get their names and the story is bleak, dark and dreary. There is hardly any food left, nothing growing, no power, nothing but desolation. Yet while it sounds like a slow moving book, it’s really a page-turning masterpiece.
The fact of the matter is that the only woman who appears in the story of any significance is the father’s wife, but it’s only done in short flashbacks.
So either Theron will be in the film for just a few short flashbacks, or else they are changing the story a bit.
Some other interesting news on this is that according to IMDB.com, Guy Pearce is in talks to also be in the film, as well as Danny Huston. Again, it’s going to be weird to see how additional actors fare in this film because of the main focus being on just two people and a desolate landscape.
I can see some of these guys turning up along the way, sort of like cameo appearances while they journey towards hope.
And as far as the son goes, it looks like (according to Production Charts) that he’ll be played by Kodi Smit-McPhee.
If you haven’t read the book yet, I strongly suggest you pick up a copy today and make sure you are all set for the movie’s release sometime in September of 2008.
Viggo is an awesome choice for the father. I’m assuming Charlize will play the wife/mother, which is also a great choice. If they expand the back story with the mother, I think that will be great too.
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Maybe I should read this book before the movie… especially if you are going to be charting the production of the movie. How happy are you right now, Mike?
Sooooo happy!