Coppola has owned the rights to Jack Kerouac’s beat classic, On the Road. Now—after much wrangling to get everything right—the most important novel of a generation is about to be translated into film.
This is of the same magnitude as if The Catcher in the Rye or A Confederacy of Dunces finally made the journey to celluloid.
Coppola confirmed for me yesterday that Joel Schumacher has been set as director, and that novelist Russell Banks’s screenplay looks good. What Coppola could not confirm, but seems to be the buzz, is the casting. According to sources knowledgeable about the Kerouac estate’s doings, two actors have settled into the primary roles. If all goes to plan, look for Billy Crudup as Kerouac and Brad Pitt as Dean Moriarity, the character based on Neal Cassady.
Maybe it’s too good to be true. It sounds it. But when I asked Coppola about the casting all he could say was, “I don’t know who Joel has in mind yet.”
Schumacher is an interesting and inspired choice for On the Road, especially after making Tigerland. He excels at male friendships, and is equally good at moving large ensembles of young people around. While Tigerland showed his talents lay in things other than John Grisham novels, On the Road could at last be the film that lands him award status and critical acclaim.
