The Western might not exactly be the film world’s favourite genre at the moment, but when you have a story from the writers of Brokeback Mountain, Julianne Moore and Tom Hanks considering starring and Barry Levinson preparing to sit in the director’s chair, the chances of the green light flashing start to look an awful lot better.
So it is with the adaptation of Larry McMurtry’s American West tome Boone’s Lick. McMurtry has penned the script with Brokeback co-writer Diana Ossana and Levinson is currently in final negotiations to hoist the megaphone.
Boone’s Lick sees the Cecil family making the long voyage from Boone’s Lick Missouri to Fort Phil Kearny in Wyoming, so that the mother of the family can track down her elusive hubby and tell him she’s had enough. Told from the point of view of 15-year-old Shay, the family will encounter treacherous weather, deadly grizzly bears and hostile Native Americans.
It’s likely that Julianne Moore will be playing the mother, with Hanks as Seth, her brother. The production is already location scouting across Wyoming, with the shoot planned for late summer.
