Script Decision
If you had to decide which script to read first — Joel and Ethan Coen‘s adaptation of Cormac McCarthy‘s No Country for Old Men or Charles Leavitt, Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick‘s Blood Diamond…forget it, I’ve just decided. The Coen’s, of course.
I would read the Coen Brothers script first too. I’ve been a fan of theirs since Miller’s Crossing.
I would definitely read No Country first. I read the novel and the Coen Bros. style is perfect for the story plus I like the actors in this film.
I read Blood Diamond and thought it was great — one of the best scripts I’ve read in a while. I’m a big Coen Brothers fan, but the scripts to even their best movies aren’t the best reads IMO.
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN – Damn good script. Takes us back to BLOOD SIMPLE. Damn fine read. But so is BLOOD DIAMOND. The former title of BLOOD DIAMOND, OKAVANGO, is way better. One of the few times you can choose between two scripts, and they’re both good.
Jesus. This means there’ll be another Coen Brothers movie with evil hitmen, goofy cops and stolen money.
And, granted, these are all classic Coen ingredients. But I’ve always thought their best movies went against expectations.
Can’t they ever get “To the White Sea” made???
The Cormac McCarthy book that they should really adapt is “Blood Meridian”. That would be a real career growth-spurt.
That is, unless there’s already an adaptation in the works. Preferably done by John Milius.
I’d be very curious to see how they handled No Country. It’s kind of a tough book. It will be interesting to see if the ending becomes more “audience friendly”, very telling as to where there Coens’ heads are at. Their last couple of outings have been, let’s face it, kinda shaky.
read it. while i think the coens work has been real bad the past few films, this is easily one of their best scripts. it reads like “raising arizona” meets “the getaway.” very violent, mythic and somewhat weird at the end. should be a visual treat.
I recently read the Coen Bros.’ adaptation of “To the White Sea.” It’s great and there’s NO dialogue. It would have been an interesting experiment had it been made (I recall they had Brad Pitt attached way back). It was at Fox but has been dead for some time.
As for “Blood Meridian,” it’s currently in development at Paramount with Ridley Scott attached to direct (and a great writer named William Monahan adapting). A few years ago, it was a passion project for Tommy Lee Jones, who wanted to make it his directing debut. Considering how terrific and Peckinpahian “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada,” that could have been pretty cool.
Gotta disagree with you there Tom regarding the relative coolness of the possibility of TLG doing a Peckinpah-ian take on Blood Meridian.
McCarthy’s book isn’t a post-modernist work and the Peckinpah sensibility would be an awkward fit for it.
Billy Bob Thornton’s adaptation of All the Pretty Horses was more in line with McCarthy’s vibe. I wish Thornton would release an extended cut of that movie. I think it’s an underrated work which gets McCarthy about 80% right.
What TLG should do though, is a Peckinpah-ian adaptation of one of those Louis L’Amour or Zane Grey books. Turn them inside out or some such.