Having recently left his film post at Netflix to start his own media company, many wondered where Scott Stuber would land next. While his new company has not been named yet, the producer has found his next project: a film about Bruce Springsteen centered around the storytelling in his classic ’70s album Nebraska. What’s more, the talent involved is massive.
An adaptation of the Warren Zanes book published last year, “Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska,” Jeremy Allen White, star of “The Bear” is in talks to play Springsteen and Scott Cooper, known for soulful music projects like his debut “Crazy Horse,” will direct according to Deadline.
Nothing seems to be set in stone yet, but the film is underway at A24, and the hope is White could shoot the picture in the fall after seasons three and four of “The Bear”—being shot back to back are completed.
While Springsteen has many classic records, the dark, raw, and introspective Nebraska is regarded among his best. It was recorded on a simple four-track recorder by Springsteen alone in his bedroom. At one point, the singer did not intend to release it; he just saw it as a personal cathartic exercise before recording his landmark Born In The USA. Thankfully, Springsteen changed his mind, and a vulnerable, lyrical, on-the-road classic was made.
Springsteen and his manager, Jon Landau, are also actively involved in the project.
Here’s the Amazon synopsis of “Deliver Me From Nowhere”
Without Nebraska, Bruce Springsteen might not be who he is today. The natural follow-up to Springsteen’s hugely successful album The River should have been the hit-packed Born in the U.S.A. But instead, in 1982, he came out with an album consisting of a series of dark songs he had recorded by himself, for himself. But more than forty years later, Nebraska is arguably Springsteen’s most important record—the lasting clue to understanding not just his career as an artist and the vision behind it, but also the man himself.
Nebraska is rough and unfinished, recorded on cassette tape with a simple four-track recorder by Springsteen, alone in his bedroom, just as the digital future was announcing itself. And yet Springsteen now considers it his best album. Nebraska expressed a turmoil that was reflective of the mood of the country, but it was also a symptom of trouble in the artist’s life, the beginnings of a mental breakdown that Springsteen would only talk about openly decades after the album’s release.
This project also seems to clarify what was seemingly read between the lines when it was announced that “The Bear” had shot back-to-back seasons. With big careers opening for the entire cast, including creator/writer/director Christopher Storer—who has signed on to make his own features and new FX shows—“The Bear” is probably calling it quits after season four. FX seemingly greenlighted the two seasons back to back when they realized that if they didn’t do it now, that cast would scatter to the winds with their skyrocketing careers, and it would be the last chance to capitalize on the momentum and popularity of the show. Nothing’s official or set in stone, but come back one or two years from now when it’s all over and see if we’re correct.