The Counselor

[Pozer]

this is -ing ...

Pulitzer Prize-winning Author Cormac McCarthy Sells His First Spec Script
www.deadline.comEXCLUSIVE: While Cormac McCarthy's novels have been turned into No Country For Old Men, The Road and All the Pretty Horses, he's left the film adaptations to others. McCarthy has surprised everybody by writing his first spec screenplay. Nick Wechsler, Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz, the producing trio behind the adaptation of McCarthy's Pulitzer Prize-winner The Road, have just closed a deal to take The Counselor off the table with a preemptive acquisition.

The terrain of the script is reminiscent of the rough and tumble world depicted in No Country For Old Men. The protagonist in The Counselor is a respected lawyer who thinks he can dip a toe in to the drug business without getting sucked down. It is a bad decision and he tries his best to survive it and get out of a desperate situation. While McCarthy's ICM agents Binky Urban and Ron Bernstein were expecting McCarthy to deliver his next novel, he instead surprised them with the spec script before returning to the book. The producers moved quickly and spent their own money to buy it in a sizable deal. They tell me they will go looking for a filmmaker as they talk to financiers.

"The spec falls smack in the middle of what everyone responds to with Cormac's novels," Wechsler said. Steve Schwartz told me: "Since McCarthy himself wrote the script, we get his own muscular prose directly, with its sexual obsessions. It's a masculine world into which, unusually, two women intrude to play leading roles. McCarthy's wit and humor in the dialogue make the nightmare even scarier. This may be one of McCarthy's most disturbing and powerful works." The script is contemporary, and set in the Southwest.

Wechsler and the Schwartz's are prepping The Host, the adaptation of Twilight Saga author Stephenie Meyer, which shoots February 13 in Baton Rouge with Saoirse Ronan starring and Andrew Niccol directing. They are producing the film with Meyer. The Schwartz's also produced Cogan's Trade with Brad Pitt and Dede Gardner and were exec producers of The Tree of Life, while Wechsler's in production in the Jonathan Glazer-directed Under the Skin, and wrapped the Steven Soderbergh-directed Magic Mike.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/01/pulitzer-prize-winning-author-cormac-mccarthy-sells-his-first-spec-script/

[Sleepless]

Actually, his first spec script was No Country For Old Men. When it didn't sell, he turned it into a novel.

[Pozer]

this one should be coo too. admire Franco's ambition, his efforts to launch Blood Merdi,etc. been wantin to revisit Child of God,
http://www.wvva.com/story/16549437/james-franco-to-direct-film-in-greenbrier-county

[Sleepless]

OT: but I saw JF's movie Sal at AFF. Dude has serious directing ability.

[MacGuffin]

Ridley Scott In Talks For Cormac McCarthy's 'The Counselor'
Source: Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: Ridley Scott is in talks to direct the Cormac McCarthy-scripted drama The Counselor. Scott intends to make it his next film and his followup to Prometheus, the 3D space film which Fox releases this summer. I guess this is what happens when one of the premiere living authors like the Pulitzer Prize-winning McCarthy takes a break from his novel writing to turn out his first spec screenplay. McCarthy, whose novels have been turned into the films No Country For Old Men, The Road and All the Pretty Horses, did just that in late December, and sold the script to The Road producing team of Nick Wechsler and Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz.

Scott had been mulling several options, including an historical epic about Gertrude Bell that The Constant Gardener scribe Jeffrey Caine is currently rewriting, and Child 44 at Summit Entertainment. But Scott has been talking directly to McCarthy and it's looking likely that he and his Scott Free Entertainment banner will come aboard the film and join Wechsler and the Schwartz's as producers. Those producers control all rights, and haven't committed the film to any studio, but I can see their phone sheets filling up by tomorrow morning.

The Counselor is reminiscent of the rough and tumble world depicted in No Country For Old Men. The protagonist is a respected lawyer who thinks he can dip a toe in to the drug business without getting sucked down. It is a bad decision and he tries his best to survive it and get out of a desperate situation. After McCarthy surprised his ICM reps with the spec, the producers moved quickly and spent their own money to buy it in a sizable deal. Wechsler said at the time: "The spec falls smack in the middle of what everyone responds to with Cormac's novels. Said Steve Schwartz: "Since McCarthy himself wrote the script, we get his own muscular prose directly, with its sexual obsessions. It's a masculine world into which, unusually, two women intrude to play leading roles. McCarthy's wit and humor in the dialogue make the nightmare even scarier. This may be one of McCarthy's most disturbing and powerful works." The script is contemporary, and set in the Southwest. Scott is repped by WME.

[Pozer]

hoping this movie is

Scott Free

[polkablues]

If it's going to be any Scott, it should be Tony.

[Pozer]

this is

now a shit project.

[MacGuffin]

Ridley Scott Commits To Next Direct McCarthy's 'The Counselor'; Will Michael Fassbender Play Title Role?
Source: Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: The Cormac McCarthy script The Counselor might well be traveling on the fastest track toward production of any film in recent memory. I'm told that Ridley Scott has now committed to make The Counselor his next film. Other sources tell me that Scott has been talking to his Prometheus star Michael Fassbender about playing the title role. While a formal offer hasn't been made, I believe there's a high likelihood that Hollywood's hottest actor will star in the film.

Scott is eyeing a May 1 start date, and he is talking to a number of high-profile actors to take part in a film that insiders are describing as "No Country For Old Men on steroids." Let's put the whole thing in perspective: McCarthy's ICM agents, who expected him to turn in a new novel, were surprised that he instead took a detour and turned in his first feature spec script in December. The agents started talks on a rich spec deal with The Road producers Nick Wechsler and Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz. Negotiations started before the end of the year and the deal was done in mid-January.

While a number of directors began chasing the material, Scott jumped the line and basically settled on directing the film in late January. Now, there is a group of top actors who've read the script and want to be in the movie. Even though McCarthy's books have been turned into such films as No Country For Old Men, The Road and All The Pretty Horses, this has to be heady stuff for the Pulitzer Prize-winning author. We're talking six months between the time McCarthy turned in the script and when production is likely to begin.

The Counselor is reminiscent of the rough and tumble world depicted in the Oscar-winning adaptation of McCarthy's novel No Country For Old Men. The protagonist is a respected lawyer who thinks he can dip a toe in to the drug business without getting sucked down. It is a bad decision and he tries his best to survive it and get out of a desperate situation.

When the producers bought it, Wechsler said "The spec falls smack in the middle of what everyone responds to with Cormac's novels. Said Steve Schwartz: "Since McCarthy himself wrote the script, we get his own muscular prose directly, with its sexual obsessions. It's a masculine world into which, unusually, two women intrude to play leading roles. McCarthy's wit and humor in the dialogue make the nightmare even scarier. This may be one of McCarthy's most disturbing and powerful works." The script is contemporary, and set in the Southwest.

There is an active group of buyers and sellers doing brisk business in the frozen climes of Berlin at the European Film Market. Trust me, this is the project that has distributors talking. Fassbender's repped by CAA.

[BB]

Not sure how long this will stay up, but for the time being the script can be found here.

[72teeth]

WAT!  THANKS!

[squints]

Not sure how long this will stay up, but for the time being the script can be found here.

that's not how you format a screenplay Cormac! Geeeez.

[Pozer]

that script is a farce!

most of it anyhow. i'd believe the format but a lot of the content is 

here's Playlist's shmaylist http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/we-read-it-casting-ridley-scott-cormac-mccarthys-bleak-beautiful-collaboration-the-counselor

some idiot (maybe his phony tweeter) Corms'd up his own amateur script or somesuch. i dunno. it's weird.

[BB]

a lot of the content is 

I thought so too. It's not bad in my opinion, but it's far from great. Were it not for McCarthy's reputation, there's no way this would've sold and fast-tracked as it has.

some idiot (maybe his phony tweeter) Corms'd up his own amateur script or somesuch.

I had my doubts about it. But then why the formatting? Like the fake author adopted the no-time-for-this-shit persona of McCarthy as well as his style. I wanna believe it's genuine. Just a little tossed off maybe.

[BB]

He also adapted his own The Sunset Limited for Tommy Lee Jones to direct. It played on HBO last year, I think. Very much a filmed play. There may not have actually been any changes made in the adaptation.

And no problem, I am Schmi. Hey, there's a BB in your avatar. Neat.