If there is any doubt that Shawn Levy is one the hottest directors around town, just take a look at some of the projects that he’s been linked to in the past little while. The “Date Night” and “Real Steel” helmer currently has an animated “Mr. Men” movie he’s producing; the James Cameron-produced 3D “Fantastic Voyage“; a re-team with Hugh Jackman on a Carlton Cuse (“Lost“) penned action-adventure movie and a modern re-telling of “Romeo & Juliet” penned by the “(500) Days Of Summer” writers on his plate. And with already plenty of options to choose from, he’s added one more.
Deadline reports that DreamWorks is looking to pick up a pitch to be penned by Jonathan Tropper that will center around the demise of Kodak’s Kodachrome film as a vehicle for Levy. If you’re not a photo nerd, you’ll be forgiven for missing this bit of news, but last year marked the end of all developing of Kodachrome slide film. Celebrated by photogs for its warm, saturated colors, the slide film was one of the most popular brands in the Kodak family but as the years have worn on, and slide film used less and less, Kodak had withdrawn processing the film. Dwayne’s Photo, an outlet in Kansas, was the last remaining developer of Kodachrome in the country and at the end of December they no longer accepted the format for processing (and somewhere Paul Simon cried a single tear).
The film will use the NY Times article, “For Kodachrome Fans, Road Ends at Photo Lab in Kansas” as the inspiration for the story will be centered around a father-son road trip as they race across the country to get their (presumably very important) photos developed.
So wait, just who is this writer Tropper? While he’s yet to score much of an IMDB page, but he’s probably best known for adapting the remake of “Harvey” not so long ago that nearly had Steven Spielberg ready to direct. The guy knows how to tug heartstrings.
Frankly, the premise is not that bad of an idea for road movie and pretty clever one at that. That said, can we all agree that Don Draper’s pitch for the Carousel at the end of first season of “Mad Men” is best piece of Kodak related cinema ever? (Team Matt Weiner)
Paul Simon “Kodachrome”
