Remember the book: A walk in the woods, by bill bryson, and how it was going to be made in to a movie with robert redferd and paul newman? Well newman droped out due to aging, so the movie is off. Sad, Sad, Sad…
woodsman04
A walk in the woods book-movie
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#4
So ur telling me that they said no movie since newman is the only actor that can play the role?
SmokeEater
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#5
I read it in a magazine interview with redford, heres a Quote,
“A Walk in the Woods,” but age caught up with them. Redford, 71, tells Playboy, “It’s not happening, sadly. I got the rights to it four years ago, and we couldn’t decide if we were too old to do it. Then we decided, let’s go for it. But time passed, and Paul’s been getting older fast. I think things deteriorated for him. Finally, two months ago, he called and said, ‘I gotta retire.’ The picture was written and everything. It breaks my heart.”
So thats all they said about it, I dont know if they will use other actors or what, but it wont be Paul Newman…
woodsman04
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#7
Yeah, I like the idea of Ben Stiller as Bryson and imagine John Candy or Chris Farly as Katz. Too bad they’re gone though.
Tom
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#8
Funny, the first casting idea that came to me was David Spade and Chris Farley. Adam Sandler would do a cameo as one of the hikers Bill and Katz meet along the way.
Celt
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#9
Too old? he still races cars at Limerock. My neighbor is part of the same group he said a few weeks ago Paul was with Meryl Steep drinking Sierra Nevadas after a few laps around the track… maybe too old to play the part as it is implied in the book…
aswah
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#10
When I heard about a “Newman” playing Katz I thought “Wow thats pretty much the perfect casting.” Then I found out it was Paul Newman, and not Newman from Seinfeld, when clearly Newman from Seinfeld would be a much better Katz than some skinny, 80 year old, formerly good-looking man.
Rocham
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#11
If Paul Newman doesn’t want to commit to the movie, they should just recast his part. With someone who has a recognizable name if that’s what it will take to guarantee some box office success. Or a complete unknown if that’s not the issue.
There must be one or more OTHER reasons why the movie’s not being made (if that’s the case). But to suggest Newman is the only actor in the world who could play Katz is not that credible.
Skyline
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#12
Philip Seymour Hoffman as Katz.
Celt, please tell me you are kidding…right?!!
I can’t believe the unimaginative casting choices i’m hearing. Ben Stiller is a hack more suited for slapstick comedies geared towards teenagers. The lead actor would have to be someone who can add soem nuances to the role.
Owen Wilson is also unsuitable. Don’t these guys just end up playing themselves in all of their movies.
While i appreciate Wes Andersons efforts to do something different, I found Darjeeling Express to be just too damn cute and Quirky with no real heart or soul. Like many of his movies, after you get beyond the quirky situations and oddball xcharacter, there’s not much there…but at least he tries.
stryker
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#13
I was thinking of charles Martin Smith for Bryson. He was the actor in Never Cry Wolf and looks a lot like Bryson.
For those who haven’t heard Bryson speak, its actually a little shocking. He has a hybrid English accent. While reading the book, I always had him speaking in a mid western accent.
Styker
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#14
Didn’t Bryson say in the beginning that he lived in New Hampshire after having lived for a long time in England? Why would you have him pictured still speaking lke a mid-western? With Katz, I could see that. When I read the book, I had the image of a thin english dude who was folliclly challenged (ie. losing his hair).
Miner
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#15
I’m just trying to crack myself up with off the wall ideas. I always thought people who hated the book took it a little too seriously, so I reimagined the movie as a comedy. But don’t you think Wes Anderson would have an interesting take on quirky thru hikers?
On a serious note, I think the movie could still get made. If a script was written for Newman and Redford thats a good sign. Also, the original producers made a serious effort last summer to get the ATC’s blessing to film on the A.T., another good sign. Maybe Newman liked the project enough to use his influence to get it made with other actors. How about Michael Palin and Terry Jones? [howls of derisive laughter!]
Celt
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#16
Just like his old movie, “Deliverance” I think if they went with the same story line- as Deliverance, it would be more entertaining, along with a “Hostel” injecteur, I see a Super Blast Scary movie about a couple of dorks hiking through the woods. And therefore discourage people from the “Trail” and we would have a tremendous laugh and a more serene trail.
I will happily volunteer for the ax wielding crazed hiker part. (it fits me so well when I get my hypoglycemic attacks)
rico suave’
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#17
Actually, I believe that Bryson grew up in the Mid west. He has a new book chronicling his childhood in Des Moines Iowa called the Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. I believe he went to England in the 70s and returned in the mid 80s to give his kids a taste of their American background.
As for the movie, I bleieve the brilliance of Bryson is his understated humor and optimism in the face of his sometimes overwhelming antipathy. If you want to capture the essence of the book, you would need someone who could exprss this nuanced view. In other words, an actor with some serious chops. I actually toyed with the idea of Hugh Laurie as he’s an Englishman who does a good American accent. He’s brilliant in Black Adder though on the slapstick side.
now that I think about it, how about Rick Gervais from The origianl Office? or …Jack Black. I know athey’re all stretches but this is no job for a pretty boy.
stryker
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#18
I’m glad the movie is off. Can you imagine how many people would head to Springer every spring after that movie?!
Bubble Boy
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#19
I agree with BB, the first few springs after the movie would have so many hikers so out of tune with their surroundings, it would be dangerous for the rest of us. It would wind up like Everest has been the last few years: too many people trying to do it cuz they saw it in a movie, read it in a book.
Add me to the ranks of people that did not like the book. I can think of a dozen others I’ve read, none of them best sellers, that were much better than Bryson’s view of the AT.
Plus
Different Socks
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#20
I fear that a film version of the movie would attract untold crowds to the AT. So many that it would harm the trail even more. Yes, it could be argued that it might generate enough interest in protecting the trail corridor, but knowing the human race, we’d probably only get a burst of trail abuse and then nothing else.
PhilOchsLives