Exclusive: Could Brad Pitt Play the Lead in a Movie Based on a Song by Bob Dylan?
By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (23)
I don’t know what to make of this story, and I’m reporting it less because of its newsworthy value and more because it’s kind of a cool story. Apparently, there’s a script out there being produced by Irwin Winkler and Winkler Films (Goodfellas, Rocky, Raging Bull) that’s based on a Bob Dylan song, “Brownsville Girl.” Interestingly, the screenwriter, Jay Cocks (The Age of Innocence, Gangs of New York), was asked by Dylan personally to write the script. The screenplay is being described as a cross between BONNIE AND CLYDE and SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, and it’s about a man that gets caught up with a life of theft and murder that spans two decades as he tries to hold on to the woman he loves.
It’s a great fucking Dylan song, epic in scale, and at 11 minutes long, there’s a better basis for the movie than most children’s books turned screen adaptations.
The script, best I can tell from the little information that the Hollywood Cog has provided ((s)he’s cryptic) is that the screenplay has been around for a while, and is only coming out of its dormancy now because Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart) is considering directing the script. Cooper’s in-demand now, so he’s probably considering quite a few projects, including William Styron’s family drama Lie Down in Darkness (which Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone), wants to star in) and The Hatfields and McCoys.
The other interesting half of the equation is that Brad Pitt has apparently been offered the lead role (Henry Porter), a role that Johnny Depp was once attached to. Pitt likely gets offered a million roles (apparently including, most recently, the lead in an adaptation of the video game Red Dead Redemption). Now, whether Scott Cooper comes aboard would probably depend on whether Pitt wanted the role, and whether Pitt (who is also attached to The Hatfields and the McCoys) comes aboard probably depends on whether Cooper wants to do it. Both men have plenty of possibilities, and the odds that this project aligns properly is slim.
Still, a movie based on Brownsville Girl? That’s cool.
Let the dreamcasting for Ruby begin? She’d better have curls.
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Comments
Posted by: Kballs at August 27, 2010 9:13 AM
Jay Cocks
*snort*