Of all the famously unmade and never materialized film projects, an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s bleak and brutal Western, “Blood Meridian,” has to be near the top of the list. But as you likely know by now, if you’re a fan of this supposedly “unadaptable” book, a new film version is already in the works. And now, a new writer has been attached.
According to new reports, Oscar-nominated screenwriter John Logan (“Skyfall”) has been tapped by New Regency to work on the script for a feature film adaptation of McCarthy’s novel. “Blood Meridian” is a project that has been kicking around Hollywood since the 1990s, and Logan will be taking up writing duties from McCarthy himself. The author of “No Country For Old Men” passed away last summer at the age of 89, and he was working on his own draft of the grim Western.
John Hillcoat (“The Proposition”) is already attached to direct the latest incarnation of the book. He previously directed an adaptation of McCarthy’s dark and depressing post-apocalypse thriller “The Road,” starring Viggo Mortensen and a young Kodi Smit-McPhee as father and son navigating the end of the world. Having a filmmaker like Hillcoat attached is certainly promising when you consider his Western, “The Proposition,” is one of the most acclaimed films in the genre of the last century.
Here is how the novel published back in 1985 is described in an official logline via Amazon:
Based on historical events that took place on the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s, “Blood Meridian” traces the fortunes of the Kid, a fourteen-year-old Tennesseean who stumbles into the nightmarish world where Indians are being murdered and the market for their scalps is thriving.
Ridley Scott spent ages trying to get “Blood Meridian” off the ground, which eventually led to his collaboration with McCarthy on the deeply cynical crime thriller “The Counselor” (Scott suggested his version would have been NC-17). Director Todd Field (“Tár”) is another filmmaker who tried to adapt the film. The most recent attempt was by director James Franco with Russell Crowe attached to star, but the film fell apart over rights issues.
“‘Blood Meridian’ has been one of my favorite novels since I first read it in 1985. It’s a majestic, beautiful, and uncompromising book, and I’m thrilled to be able to help bring Cormac McCarthy’s dark masterpiece to the screen,” Logan said in a statement (via Deadline).
Logan earned Oscar nominations for his work on scripts for Martin Scorsese films “The Aviator” and “Hugo,” alongside Scott’s “Gladiator.” In the past, the veteran screenwriter has helped polish studio projects to get them into production, so it’s a good sign that the long-gestating feature adaptation will finally be made.