The Revenant, based on Michael Punke’s Western revenge novel, has been floating around at Warner Bros. for over a decade. While most of the time studios give up on projects that have been in development that long, this one keeps on going. Over the years directors like John Hillcoat and Park Chan-Wook have flirted with the movie, while actors such as Christian Bale and Samuel L. Jackson were attached to star. Nothing came of that, but now Warner is pressing forward again, with TheWrap reporting they’ve signed Babel and Biutiful helmer Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu to direct the movie.
It would be a bit of a change of direction for Inarittu, who’s made his name with rather dark tales dealing with pressing modern social issues. The Revenant meanwhile is set in the lawless, hard-living West of 1800s America, telling a story of human endurance over 3,000 miles of uncharted American wilderness. Based on the real life of fur trapper Hugh Glass, Punkes novel opens in 1823, when 36-year-old Glass joins the Rocky Mountain Fur Co. on a venture into perilous, unexplored territory. After being savagely mauled by a grizzly bear, his nearly lifeless body is left in the care of two volunteers from the company – John Fitzgerald, a ruthless mercenary, and young Jim Bridger, the future ‘King of the Mountain Men.’ When Indians approach their camp, Fitzgerald and Bridger abandon Glass. Worse yet, they rob the wounded man of his weapons and tools – the very things that might have given him a chance on his own. Deserted, defenseless, and furious, Glass vows his survival. And his revenge.
It sounds like it could make for a fascinating and rather tough film, and Inarittu could handle it well (although hopefully he’ll be able to damp down his penchant for the totally depressive). Mark L. Smith wrote the screenplay, while Akiva Goldsman will produce. As yet though, there’s no clue as to when it might shoot or who will star.