Popcorn reports that Brad Pitt and Billy Crudup ("Almost Famous") are being courted to star in the long-anticipated movie adaptation of Jack Kerouac's "On the Road." Francis Ford Coppola has held the rights to the book for years, but constant delays have put the project in development hell. So what's different this time? I have no friggin' clue. Popcorn's article gleans information from "reports from Hollywood." These reports might emanate from a savvy studio source, but they might also come from Rob Schneider's hairdresser.
Last month, Entertainment Weekly had a brief item about this project that said Coppola intended to make "On the Road" eight years ago with Pitt and Ethan Hawke in the starring roles. Coppola has since given the director's slot to Joel "I Put Nipples on the Batsuit" Schumacher.
If this project ever comes to fruition it's likely Pitt will play narrator Sal Paradise and Crudup will flail and and bounce as super-hyper Dean Moriarty. Paradise and Moriarty are fictional versions of Kerouac and Neal Cassady. For those familiar with Tom Wolfe's book "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test," the real-life Cassady in Wolfe's work is the same from "On the Road." Impressed? Yeah, I didn't think so.
Posted: 06/13/01
