Sam Riley and Garrett Hedlund as Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady with Kristen Stewart as the latter’s bride, Marylou? Yeah, we had our doubts when the cast was first revealed for Walter Salles‘ adaptation of “On the Road,” but these newly release pics from the film (via Comme au Cinema) definitely have an authentic vibe that we’re liking.
Adapted for the screen by Salles’ “Motorcycle Diaries” scribe José Rivera, the iconic Beat Generation work follows the story of Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty (surrogates for Kerouac and Neal Cassady), as they journey across the North American landscape in pursuit of self-knowledge and experience. Salles has surrounded his leads with a remarkable supporting cast including Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen, Amy Adams, Steve Buscemi, Elisabeth Moss, Terrence Howard, Alice Braga and Danny Morgan so we’re definitely curious to see what this ensemble has cooked up together.
Salles has previously stated that “any version of “On the Road” done correctly would need to be shot in black and white” and early stills were in the monochromatic format. But with these stills both in formats, we’re guessing it will be a mix of both. We’ll just have to wait and see. But at any rate, the film should look gorgeous in color or not, as his “Motorcycle Diaries” team of DoP Eric Gautier, production designer Carlos Conti and composer Gustavo Santaolalla are all back for the film.
No word of when we’ll get to see the picture, but Cannes is just around the corner. No North American release dates have yet been set, but according to Comme Au Cinema, “On the Road” will hit theaters in France on December 7th.
