It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything about Roger Avary, the Academy Award winning co-writer of “Pulp Fiction” and there’s a reason why. In 2009 he was sentenced to a year in prison for vehicular manslaughter and drunk driving, following a car crash which killed Avary’s best friend, Andreas Zini. In July of last year, he finished up his sentence and now it looks like he’s getting back to work.
Avary has been tapped by producer John Langley (“Brooklyn’s Finest,” “Leaves Of Grass“) to adapt William Faulkner‘s “Sanctuary” for the big screen. The work is a relatively minor one in the literary giant’s canon, but it is an intriguing one nonetheless. Largely viewed as an experiment by Faulkner in courting a more mainstream readership, the Southern-set tale centers on Temple Drake, an Alabama debutante who finds herself soon in the grip of an assorted array of sinister folks like bootleggers and racketeers with plenty of murder and sex in the mix. It’s gritty, pulpy fare and thus a perfect match for Avary.
The book has been made into a movie once before, arriving in the shape of the pre-code film “The Story Of Temple Drake” starring Miriam Hopkins. Certainly a grimy update could be fascinating and Avary seems like the right guy for the job, with films like “Killing Zoe” and “Rules Of Attraction” under his belt. We’re glad to see Avary back in the mix and working, and though the project is without a director or star just yet, with the Oscar stamped writer taking his pen to it, interest should be pretty high. [Deadline]
