Anthony Edwards, Radha Mitchell, Balthazar Getty & Henry Thomas Round Out The Cast
Could the Beat Generation be experiencing a resurgence of mainstream interest? We’ll have to wait and see but it certainly won’t be for a lack of trying from Hollywood. Last year, James Franco starred in the underwhelming “Howl” centering on Allen Ginsberg and the famous trial around the poem. While that film fizzled, a much more star studded affair is around the corner with Walter Salles‘ adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s iconic “On The Road” starring Kristen Stewart, Garret Hedlund, Sam Riley, Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen, Amy Adams, Steve Buscemi, Elisabeth Moss, Terrence Howard, Alice Braga and Danny Morgan. And now, another famed Kerouac is getting the big screen treatment.
Kate Bosworth, Josh Lucas and Jean-Marc Barr will lead an adaptation of “Big Sur” starring as Billie, Neal Cassady and Jack Kerouac respectively. Michael Polish (who seems to be doing this one solo from his frequent collaborator and sibling Mark) wrote and will direct the semi-autographical tale about Kerouac’s battle with fame post-“On The Road,” his battle with drugs and his relationship with Cassady’s mistress Billie. Anthony Edwards, Radha Mitchell, Balthazar Getty and Henry Thomas round out the somewhat eclectic cast.
For this writer, Michael Polish has been a director with a lot of promise who doesn’t always come through on interesting concepts (“Northfork,” “Twin Falls Idaho“) and sometimes takes bizarre detours into mainstream work (“The Astronaut Farmer“). He’s also got two completed films — “The Smell Of Success” with Billy Bob Thornton and Ed Helms and “Stay Cool” with Winona Ryder, Hilary Duff and Chevy Chase (for real) — sitting around somewhere waiting for release. So we’re not sure what to make of all this, but Beat fans certainly have a lot to look forward to. Production on “Big Sur” is already underway. [Deadline]
