Cormac McCarthy Thinks 'Blood Meridian' Can be Filmed
All you need is the perfect person... easy enough
Last August I wrote an article headlined "Cormac McCarthy's 'Blood Meridian' Can't Possibly Become a Movie" in response to continued word Little Children and In the Bedroom helmer Todd Field was set to direct McCarthy's blood-soaked 1985 breakthrough novel. Among the reasons given I wrote "there is no chance this book can be brought to the big screen and possibly keep its tone, not in the slightest." In a new interview with McCarthy and John Hillcoat, the director of the upcoming McCarthy adaptation The Road, McCarthy says "That's all crap."
John Jergensen interviewing for The Wall Street Joural said to the 76-year-old author, "People have said 'Blood Meridian' is unfilmable because of the sheer darkness and violence of the story." McCarthy responded:
That's all crap. The fact that's it's a bleak and bloody story has nothing to do with whether or not you can put it on the screen. That's not the issue. The issue is it would be very difficult to do and would require someone with a bountiful imagination and a lot of balls. But the payoff could be extraordinary.
Just to be clear, I don't believe "Blood Meridian" is unfilmable, I just don't think there is any chance any director will be granted the money necessary to bring it to the big screen. Sure, McCarthy's right, should someone with imagination and the proper amount of courage set out to make it, the payoff could be extraordinary. However, this isn't a story where the overwhelming violence is to satiate the audience's prurient interest in blood and gore. It's real world violence with real world consequences. I simply don't believe a studio would come within ten feet of it should it be adapted with the same aggression that's written on the page.
Unfortunately the conversation on that topic didn't go any further, but the interview is an absolute must read. Outside of the myriad of insightful bits of commentary there are a few choice exchanges such as the following samples:
WSJ: Why don't you sign copies of "The Road"
CM: There are signed copies of the book, but they all belong to my son John, so when he turns 18 he can sell them and go to Las Vegas or whatever. No, those are the only signed copies of the book.
WSJ: How many did you have?
CM: 250. So occasionally I get letters from book dealers or whoever that say, "I have a signed copy of the 'The Road,'" and I say, "No. You don't."
WSJ: How does that ticking clock affect your work? Does it make you want to write more shorter pieces, or to cap things with a large, all-encompassing work?
CM: I'm not interested in writing short stories. Anything that doesn't take years of your life and drive you to suicide hardly seems worth doing.
Hillcoat and McCarthy discuss "The Road" for a bit as well toward the end. To read the full interview click here.
The Road hits theaters on November 25, for more information on that film click here.
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im not to familiar with blood meridian but it sounds like its worth watching and im still very excited for the road
Make me want to read the book now and hope that someone makes it into a movie even though I know absoloutley nothing about the book.
If this story will require such a "vision" , a genius to make, etc, then they should hand this over to Zack Synder right now. Like his movies or not, he "visioned" Dawn Of The Dead, Watchmen, and 300 perfectly. Let him do it after he's done with "Sucker Punch." It may be a while before it's out (2012, even 2013), but it will be probably pretty close to perfect if he does.
I have no idea what this story is even about but nothing is "unfilmable," period. It sounds very interesting so I'm sold already.
I've never even heard of Cormac McCarthy but he sounds great. The Road looks good (and he wrote the book, right) and this story sounds good too. I also love his comment about a short story not being a big product and thus not worth writing. I one-hundred percent understand what he means.
I have read blood meridian and yes, the violence is as you say real world. It's quite something to read. That being said, I don't think it was any more gratuitous than anything that has been in any saw or hostel movie, or even inglorious basterds. I agree though that it would be a tough sell to have a studio make it. For those that don't know, and I'm sure I'm going to butcher this because its been a while since I read it, The BASICS of the novel are that the main character joins a group of cowboys who have learned that the Mexican government is paying for Apache scalps, and wants some of the action. It doesn't take them long to learn that a scalp is a scalp and the mexicans wont be able to tell the difference. So they just slaughter everything they get near, including, and this is the bad part, infants. So there you go, bad stuff. Well written book regardless, brad does a much better job explaining it if you follow his link to the old story. Sorry for the novel.
@Seiko I don’t mean to sound rude, but Zack Snyder and Blood Meridian do not belong together. While I do enjoy some of Snyder’s work, this book is not for him to adapt. His stylized vision is not what this book needs, and it would not be a faithful adaptation what so ever. Unless he did a complete 180 from his previous works, I just don’t see the two going together. Again, I’m not trying to be insulting or anything, but give the book a read and I feel like you may agree with me.
I am not really sure who I’d choose to direct this film. The Coen Brothers could probably handle it after seeing what they did with No Country for Old Men, but that’s somewhat of a boring choice (I do not think their film would be boring, I just think that’s more of an obvious pick). Possibly Terrence Malick or Darren Aronofsky. Aronofsky is always switching his style/genre up so seeing him take on Blood Meridian would certainly be interesting.
Just read the wikipedia article (kill me for doing it but I wanted some quick info) and for those who have read the book, without spoiling it too much, how do you think the ending could be handled? There are clearly a few interpretations of it given it's ambiguity, and I have a tough believing that any studio would stay loyal to how the story seems to close.
I'm reading the book right now, and would agree that it's a tough sell – real violence, bleak and brutal, nothing glamorous at all. It's an amazing novel – McCarthy really conjures up this epic world; it's like he's creating a whole myth. Incredible.
Terrence Malick is the only director I can think of who creates images of equal power to this book, but I don't think this would be Malick's cup of tea…
@Cory:
Maybe Zack Synder isn't right. There's nothing offensive about saying that. Perhaps Brian De Palma would work as well. Just suggestions, mainly because the "unfilmable" label drives me nuts.
@Seiko: Although this would be an incredibly difficult sell to any studio head, I believe it can be done. I just hope it will do justice to McCarthy's novel. I've read the book and the first guys that come to mind to direct this movie are Paul Thomas Anderson from 'There Will be Blood' or the Coen Brothers. Just my opinion of course. Either way, it would be a victory to all Cormac fans out there to see his masterpiece brought to the big screen.
If anyone can pull off an adaptation and make it sparkle it's Todd Field. Some directors are just born to adapt. The vast majority of Kubrick's movies are adaptations. And while I am not exactly comparing Todd Field to Kubrick, there is something to be said for his vision. Both Little Children and In the Bedroom are superb adaptations. In the Bedroom might even be better than its source material, and considering that Andre Dubus is one of my favorite writers, that is high praise. Now, Blood Meridian is decidedly different from both of those stories so I can understand some trepidation. But I ultimately have a lot of faith in his willingness and ability to take the necessary creative leaps to do it well.
@Seiko:
sorry, i had to respond to this.
You've never read the book, yet you say you know what you're talking about… seriously try reading the first couple of chapters, and tell me that "The guy that made 300 should make this movie". ridiculous
its people like you and ewe bole that destroy good literature… "hey, ANYTHING can be filmed, as long as its completely unfaithful to the storyline, and has loads of famous actors and special effects!" give me a break
Cormac McCarthy has this style that demands that someone with the most attention to detail can capture these details. His writing captures every splatter of blood and what an infants skull would look like if it got crushed. I think this movie is doable but in order for it to be done any justice it would have to be done with the same fearlessness as say the late Heath Ledger brought to the character of the Joker.
His writing leaves very little to the imagination and the book itself is a direct link to the days of hunting Indians. I don't think there are too many directors out there who can match his vision onto screen and still be able to stay true to his word. The characters and the whole vibe of the book always resort to violence, while the world today and society is filled with violence. There are those out there who don't like to view it, especially violence this depraved on film. The book is a masterpiece and it would take a mind like David Fincher or Darren Aronofsky to capture that vibe.
And lastly who would be able to play the judge? This guy is evil personified with a very frightening view on the world and smarts to match any noted genius. I know he is a fictional character but when you read the book it's easily recognized that this guy is truly a monster on every level. Whoever they get has to nail this character down, the movie itself would be an achievement but getting a guy to play the judge and do him justice would be a miracle. Then again where would they find a seven foot tall mountain of a man who is willing to play this alleged pedophile genius.