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Will You Bite the Hand that Feeds?

Danny Boyle's 127 Hours / TK

Trade News | November 5, 2009 | Comments (27)

Fox Searchlight recently announced that Danny Boyle’s next project for them would be a biopic of Aron Ralston. Ralston, as you may or may not recall, is the mountain climber who, while climbing in Blue John Canyon in Utah, became trapped under a boulder. After five days (!), he realized that help wasn’t coming and sawed off his own arm using a climber’s multi-tool (after snapping the bones using other tools on hand (sorry, bad pun)). He had, at that point, already recorded a farewell video to his family using the camera he’d brought with him and carved his name and personal information on the canyon wall. At that point, he’d run out of food and water and eventually resorted to drinking his own urine.

Jesus. To think I was bitching last night because my meatball sub didn’t have enough sauce on it.

Anyway, Boyle’s Ralston project is now called 127 Hours. He’ll likely enlist his writing partner Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire) for the screenplay. Boyle’s been firing off hits for most of his career, and given the gritty, almost tragic, and certainly grueling subject matter, this one should be a doozy. No cast has been announced yet, though shooting is scheduled to start in March of 2010.

(h/t to Slashfilm)


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Comments

Oh god I saw this story a few years ago on Dateline or 60 Minutes or some shit and it was BRUTAL. Just hearing him describe how he broke his own bones... gives me chills just thinking about it.

Two hours of bone-snappin' fun!

Posted by: Paul Southworth at November 5, 2009 9:55 AM

On the one hand, Danny Boyle can probably do a great job with this material.

On the other hand, a big narrative thrust is a man trapped under a boulder for five days. I don't see how this works out to a rewarding film experience. I mean, the guy doesn't even have a basketball to dribble to keep him sane or delicious homemade preserves to keep him lucid. Stuck at least had other characters reacting to a man trapped in a windshield; this is one guy under a rock. Sure, Paul Thomas Anderson made DDL trapped in a mining well with a broken foot compelling for a good long time in There Will Be Blood, but that doesn't mean anyone can do it.

Posted by: Robert at November 5, 2009 10:13 AM

The musical numbers in this one are going to suuuuuck.

Posted by: Tracer Bullet at November 5, 2009 10:24 AM

This guy Ralston is the man. I honestly don't think that many of us would have the courage to do what he did. I'd probably just sit there and die. On the other hand, reason and vasy examples of others' experiences tells me that the human will to live spercedes any attempt at the mind to overthrow it, and makes you do things like drink your own piss or eat a baby or cut your own FUCKING ARM OFF! The fact that he made it proves that that will is inherent in humans, call it Darwin's auto-pilot, if you will. I find survival stories very interesting for that specific reason. Who knows what one is capable of until faced with the lifechanger that is certain death looming? I hope that I never have to find out.

Posted by: John Denver's Wingman at November 5, 2009 10:26 AM

skip.

I'd rather watch the evening news with Katie Couric.

Posted by: ginkirk at November 5, 2009 10:28 AM

vast, not vasy. It's early.

Posted by: John Denver's Wingman at November 5, 2009 10:28 AM

Maybe if this guy had those space boots with the mini rockets on them like Kirk and Spock had when they were mountain climbing in one of those “Star Trek” movies things would have turned out a little differently.

Posted by: Guess Who! at November 5, 2009 10:42 AM

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd now I want a meatball sub. But I refuse to go to Subway until Jared Fogel quits sticking his fucking face into my TV viewing every 5 minutes. And besides it's like 10:52 a.m., and who eats meatball subs an hour before noon?
But I still want one.

Damn you, TK. Damn you to HELL.

Posted by: , (TCFKAB) at November 5, 2009 10:50 AM

I always hear this line about human beings having a strong will to survive, and frankly I'm not sure I believe it. Stories are always told by survivors who tend to have been the outliers to really were focused on survival. Even on a mundane level, just think about the fact that many human beings are busy eating, drinking and/or smoking themselves to death right now. I think this guy was exceptional. No way could I have done it. It should be a really compelling film. Touching The Void was pretty much about one guy crawling through the snow for three days and urinating on himself to keep his body warm and that was compelling so why not this?

Posted by: PaddyDog at November 5, 2009 10:50 AM

Yuk, yuk, yuk. Fuck brave people.

Posted by: Cindy at November 5, 2009 10:51 AM

Touching The Void was pretty much about one guy crawling through the snow for three days and urinating on himself to keep his body warm and that was compelling so why not this?

Because Touching the Void was a badass documentary that gave me nightmares with the actual men telling their story. This is to be a narrative feature about a man's harrowing story of survival. I see a pretty big difference.

I mean, Mira Nair fucked up the story of Amelia Earhart pretty thoroughly, and that was no small feat. Sure, she's no Danny Boyle, but Danny Boyle wasn't really considered Danny Boyle until he did a big flashy mock-Bollywood feature that won every award ever created in the history of mankind. There's no zombies, junkies, or kickass musical numbers to hide behind.

Posted by: Robert at November 5, 2009 11:33 AM

Um, OK, I'll be that person: why did he go mountain climbing by himself? I mean, props for doing what he had to do to survive and all that, but nobody should go into the wilderness alone and this story illustrates why. Nature is a bitch. And she will fucking kill you whenever she gets a chance. When people deliberately risk their lives with stupidity, it kinda takes the shine off their "survival" story for me.

I'm not digging this trend of making heroes out of idiots who go into the wilderness by themselves and either triumph (this guy) or fail utterly and die - that idiot who went out by himself in the wilderness of Alaska (which is the vast majority of the square mileage in Alaska) and starved to death. People who work in wilderness areas and end up having to go find these people tell us all the time: don't go out there by yourself, you could die. If somebody walked into traffic and got hit by a truck and then survived, we wouldn't make a movie about him, we'd call him an idiot. How is this guy any different, really?

Posted by: Slash at November 5, 2009 11:53 AM

Actually Slash, minor correction: I don't think Christopher McCandless starved to death. The evidence indicated that he mistook bad mushrooms for good and pretty much poisoned himself to death. And yes, he was an idiot.

Posted by: PaddyDog at November 5, 2009 12:01 PM

I heard that there is an inter esting place for all h O t g irls and guys,
seems it is named: ___Tallmingle Co M___ ,if u want to find some fun or lov ers, please have a try !!!

Posted by: Oliver45 at November 5, 2009 12:15 PM

This is piece from Maddox (Alphabet of Manliness) back in '03.

If you're asking yourself "who the hell is Aron Ralston," you'd better step back and re-evaluate your life right now. Ralston, the living legend, was hiking up a cliff in southern Utah (probably to do something manly like take a leak off of it), when a giant boulder fell on him, pinning his arm against the ground. Most people would have just died, but did he surrender his life to a mere giant life-threatening boulder? Hell no. He just kept getting angrier and angrier until he finally CUT OFF HIS ARM WITH A DULL KNIFE. This after he literally chiseled away at the bone so he could snap his arm off and free himself from underneath the rock. Yes, you read that correctly, he cut off his own arm with a dull pocket knife.

Since I don't have any credible sources of what happened next, I'm going to go off of the next best thing: hearsay and rumor. After he cut off his arm, he jumped off the cliff and broke his fall with his face, just because he's that tough. Then he got ambushed by a tribe of angry Indians, caught an arrow in his heart, pulled it out and killed all the warriors with it. On his way back a buffalo crossed his path so what did Ralston do? He head-butt it to death, then he found its offspring and broke their ribs just for pissing him off. Then he chopped down a tree with his undoubtedly large penis, built a raft out of it and rafted down the green river. That's the damn truth--more or less. Aron Ralston is a real man and one tough son of a bitch. He deserves utmost respect for being such a badass.

Posted by: Hoppy at November 5, 2009 12:21 PM

RE: PaddyDog at November 5, 2009 12:01 PM
"Actually Slash, minor correction: I don't think Christopher McCandless starved to death. The evidence indicated that he mistook bad mushrooms for good and pretty much poisoned himself to death. And yes, he was an idiot."

Eh, I knew it had something to do with food in some way, just couldn't remember (from the PR that came out when the movie did) and didn't care enough to Google it. Thanks.

RE: Oliver45 at November 5, 2009 12:15 PM
"I heard that there is an inter esting place for all h O t g irls and guys, seems it is named: ___Tallmingle Co M___ ,if u want to find some fun or lov ers, please have a try !!!"

Not sure that's relevant, Oliver45, but thanks for sharing. I think spam from an amputee dating site would be more appropriate.

Posted by: Slash at November 5, 2009 1:07 PM

127 Hours Later.

I just hope they "do right by" the boulders they use in the film. I don't need 2 years of bullshit responses about how mistreated the rocks were every time I mention that I liked the movie.

Posted by: laredo at November 5, 2009 1:25 PM

Slash, I asked that question too when I first heard about this. I then saw a piece on this guy on TV; he was an experienced outdoorsman and usually let people know where he was going, but this one time was when he neglected to do so. He fully acknowledged his stupidity, which I kinda admire. You hear so many stories of fuckwits wandering into dangerous situations and then acting all surprised when their cell phones don't work, and then others have to risk their lives to save them.

So the guy did own up to his mistake, and he did get himself out of it. They showed bits from the video he filmed of himself while trapped, and it amazed me at how quiet and calm he was about the situation. I would have been raging, or breaking down into hysterical sobs. I don't think he used any language harsher than "gosh" or "darn". Maybe knowing his family would be viewing it tempered his reactions; he wouldn't want them to know how terrified he was before he died.

The part that gave me the willies was the knife that he used--one of those little itty-bitty Swiss Army ones that fold out. I figure that if I really, really had to, I could take off a limb with an axe, something that would do the job swiftly, but this guy had to go at it like he was performing a dissection in anatomy class--LAYER BY LAYER. After he broke his bones because he knew the knife wouldn't saw through them. I sure as hell wouldn't be able to put that much forethought into it. When he described seeing the nerve in his arm and how just plucking at it created unbelievable pain, and yet he still had to cut through it, I almost threw up. I'm sick just thinking about it now.

Posted by: DeadBessie at November 5, 2009 2:01 PM

My grandfather pulled his own impaled leg off to escape a burning car on a deserted road. He used to take the peg leg off and poke my mom and her siblings when they didn't expect it. Weird sense of humor. It's amazing what extreme things some people can do in life threatening situations.

Also, it wasn't bad mushrooms that killed the Christopher McCandless it was eating green potatoes. No joke, it's poisonous.

Posted by: Jiffyzen at November 5, 2009 3:29 PM

Speaking of things "Swiss Army"...........

Anyone notice the 'arm' / extension / prosthesis that Mr Ralston is
sporting up in the post header?

Like when he gets up in the morning, he goes to the garage peg board
and decides which tool to snap-on [click].

Posted by: Ms MoMo at November 5, 2009 4:38 PM


The musical numbers in this one are going to suuuuuck.
Posted by: Tracer Bullet at November 5, 2009 10:24 AM

Win.

He got himself into a mess, he got himself out of it. Don't know how it will work as a drama, but the story itself is astonishing.

Posted by: Squirrelgripper at November 5, 2009 6:17 PM

Not sure that's relevant, Oliver45, but thanks for sharing. I think spam from an amputee dating site would be more appropriate.

Posted by: Slash at November 5, 2009 1:07 PM
--------------------------------------------------
4 limbs is 2 many_! One short, 2 shy?!! Where Ucan go for hott, amputty lOve with others but ___1Short Co M___ easy and the bEst! All around? Absolute!

Posted by: Kung Fu Grip at November 5, 2009 8:09 PM

I've read the book, and I'd definitely see the movie. That being said, much of the book is told in flashback, as autobiography. Most of the drama takes place in a tiny, cramped canyon. If the movie echoes the book in changing perspective, then I can see it pulling off the same effect as the book. As others have said, he definitely acknowledged his own mistakes in going out there alone (there's a great part where he admits that he was looking for great adventure and he guessed he found it). The book is worth reading; it's funny and touching as well as dramatic and bloody.

Posted by: Noelegy at November 5, 2009 8:37 PM

Who cares!!! My boyfriend also agrees with me. He is 10 years older than me, lol. We met online at age-gap club -- http://AgelessMeet.COM/. Maybe you wanna check out or tell your friends.

Posted by: Kyra at November 6, 2009 3:25 AM

I met Aaron once. I know people can be skeptical, but I think he is inspiring. I do know he has continued to be an outdoorsman and has accomplished some truly incredible and adventurous things. He is a mountaineer and one that I respect. Some people will come to the conclusion that he is an "idiot" for doing what he does, but they will never understand him or why he does it. I think there are people who choose to build a relationship with nature and people who ignore it. Some people use the power of nature to help understand life and this crazy world we live in. In return their spirit can grow immensely, sometimes surpassing anything anyone else can understand or relate with. The only one who can truly understand is the one who accomplished it. Know what I mean?

Posted by: Ryan at November 6, 2009 7:09 PM

No, I don't, Ryan. I'm with Slash on this one. If I want to see a real-life hero, I'll Google Kimberly Munley, who risked her life to help others while acting according to her discipline and training. If I want to see a real-life idiot, I'll watch Mr. Boyle's tribute to Aron Ralston. (And if I want to see fictional idiots, I'll watch Mr. Boyle's "Sunshine," where a team of so-called top-notch astronauts carry out a world-saving mission with all the intelligence and integrity of the meatball sub that keeps getting mentioned in this thread.) Ralston was doing something dangerous, and he got himself hurt doing it. Moreover, he was doing it while ill-equipped and without leaving even a Post-It to let his family or friends know where he might be. And Boyle thinks this is heroic...? You might want to re-think your definition of "hero," Danny....

Posted by: Nemo at November 7, 2009 3:39 AM

It'll all culminate in a heart-warming scene where Ralston wins his arm back on an Indian game show.

Posted by: Daniel Hall at November 8, 2009 8:42 PM





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