Sadly, the life of famed editor-turned-director Hal Ashby was cut short in 1988, well before his time. Unfortunately, that meant that the film industry never fully got to see what the filmmaker would have been capable of in the years that would follow. However, his legacy will apparently live on, as one of his passion projects that never saw the light of day might finally make its way to the big screen, with the film “The Hawkline Monster.”
According to THR, the film rights to the novel “The Hawkline Monster,” from author Richard Brautigan, have been purchased by New Regency, the production studio that is coming off the almost-billion-dollar success of “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The novel is described as a “Gothic Western” that follows the story of a young woman that hires two gunmen to kill a monster that lives in ice caves below the basement of a house owned by Miss Hawkline.
As mentioned, “The Hawkline Monster” is a film that has been in various stages of development for decades, most famously with Ashby aboard to direct it back in 1975. At the time, Ashby, who is the Oscar-nominated director best known for films like “Harold and Maude,” “Shampoo,” “Coming Home,” and “Being There,” had his heart set on actors Jack Nicholson and Dustin Hoffman as the two gunslingers. At another point down the line, Ashby was also looking at Jeff and Beau Bridges as the two leads.
Eventually, with Ashby’s death, the film development stalled, but was once again picked up by filmmaker Tim Burton. This time, Burton went back to Nicholson and wanted him to star alongside none other than Clint Eastwood. As you can surmise from this news, the film was never produced, and the rights lingered in a complicated legal mess with the estates of Ashby and the author Brautigan.
Now, with that sweet, sweet ‘Rhapsody’ cash, New Regency has finally secured the rights and is looking to bring this storied film to the big screen, for real this time. Clearly, with the names that were attached during its previous development, “The Hawkline Monster” is a film that should attract some stars and hopefully, will live up to the legacy of Ashby.