Butler's Script Sale of the Week...
April 16th, 2001
Not many exciting sales this week. I'll be curious to see how CROSS CHECK, the Bruce Willis-attached project turns out. Although, I'm getting strange STRIKING DISTANCE (1993) vibes from this one. Let's hope I'm wrong. Jonathan Mostow continues to surprise me, so I'll be looking out for what he does with Kelly Kennemer's untitled amnesia pitch.
There's no question about my pick of the week. Banderira's acquisition of the rights to Chuck Palahniuk's upcoming novel CHOKE marks a return to the screen of the kind of offbeat, unforgiving, satirical material that made FIGHT CLUB (1999) such a remarkable film.
Palahniuk, of course, also wrote the novel that FIGHT CLUB was based on. It was his first book and it and its follow-ups, Survivor: A Novel, Invisible Monsters, and the soon to be released Choke: A Novel are quickly earning the novelist a place as one of the most important voices of our generation.
CHOKE tells the story of Victor Mancini, a medical school dropout, who pays for his ailing mother's hospital bills by pretending to choke in restaurants, thusensuring himself life-long donors in the form of his rescuers. Of course,there's more to CHOKE than that. Victor also cruises Sex aholics Anonymousmeetings for some action, works in an historical theme park with a bunch of stoners, and, oh yeah, has a sneaking suspicion that he might be the secondcoming of Jesus Christ.
Now, this baby's got a long way to go before it reaches the screen. A good portion of FIGHT CLUB's success would have to be given to director DavidFincher. Likewise, the success of CHOKE is going to depend on not only whodirects, but, first and foremost, who ends up adapting Palahniuk's book for thescreen. As of now that talent has not yet been secured.
Regardless of who ends up bringing CHOKE to the screen we can be assured that, at the very least, we'll be exposed to the type of challenging and honestmaterial that Hollywood far too often shies away from.
- Edward Butler
There's no question about my pick of the week. Banderira's acquisition of the rights to Chuck Palahniuk's upcoming novel CHOKE marks a return to the screen of the kind of offbeat, unforgiving, satirical material that made FIGHT CLUB (1999) such a remarkable film.
Palahniuk, of course, also wrote the novel that FIGHT CLUB was based on. It was his first book and it and its follow-ups, Survivor: A Novel, Invisible Monsters, and the soon to be released Choke: A Novel are quickly earning the novelist a place as one of the most important voices of our generation.
CHOKE tells the story of Victor Mancini, a medical school dropout, who pays for his ailing mother's hospital bills by pretending to choke in restaurants, thusensuring himself life-long donors in the form of his rescuers. Of course,there's more to CHOKE than that. Victor also cruises Sex aholics Anonymousmeetings for some action, works in an historical theme park with a bunch of stoners, and, oh yeah, has a sneaking suspicion that he might be the secondcoming of Jesus Christ.
Now, this baby's got a long way to go before it reaches the screen. A good portion of FIGHT CLUB's success would have to be given to director DavidFincher. Likewise, the success of CHOKE is going to depend on not only whodirects, but, first and foremost, who ends up adapting Palahniuk's book for thescreen. As of now that talent has not yet been secured.
Regardless of who ends up bringing CHOKE to the screen we can be assured that, at the very least, we'll be exposed to the type of challenging and honestmaterial that Hollywood far too often shies away from.
- Edward Butler
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