If you’re adapting “Blood Meridian” then you best not miss. Everybody knows that. Cormac McCarthy’s masterfully violent 1985 novel is a tough read but also an essential American novel. It’s surely McCarthy’s magnum opus.
There have been multiple attempts to adapt this novel into a film: Tommy Lee Jones, Ridley Scott and, even, James Franco attempted to direct a film adaptation in the ‘90s and ‘00s, but none have succeeded.
John Hillcoat, who also directed an adaptation of McCarthy’s “The Road” in 2009, announced this past week that he will bring ‘Meridian’ to the big screen.
McCarthy, who is turning 90 this July, will executive produce, but there’s no word yet on who will write the screenplay. Whoever it is will have their job cut out for them. “Blood Meridian” is considered by some to be The Great American Novel.
Some have succeeded in adapting other McCarthy novels for the screen (“No Country For Old Men”) and others haven’t (“All the Pretty Horses”). Hillcoat’s adaptation of “The Road” falls somewhere in the middle. It was a good movie, but you just felt like Hillcoat didn’t totally knock it out of the park.
“Blood Meridian” is a horrifying read, but a necessary one. It’s a sprawling exploration of violence and depravity in the American West. Scalpings, sexual assaults, and pedophilia show up.
As you might have figured out, I’m not a fan of Hillcoat tackling this material. If you’re going to adapt “Blood Meridian,” then you need a trusted master. I’m thinking, Paul Thomas Anderson, Joel Coen, Todd Field or David Fincher. It needs to be in safe hands. It’s too sacred.
For some reason, McCarthy has entrusted Hillcoat as the man for the job. Godspeed.
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