Jeff Nichols’ first film in over seven years, “The Bikeriders,” premiered last year at Telluride, to mostly positive reviews, and is set to be released later this summer.
I’m now being told, by two separate sources, that Nichols is in talks to adapt the late Cormac McCarthy’s “The Passenger.” In fact, he’s close to striking a deal with the McCarthy estate to adapt the last two novels McCarthy wrote, the other being “Stella Maris.”
I’m not entirely sure if this will be his next film, but I’m hearing that Nichols, a major McCarthy fan, is “deeply passionate” about bringing “The Passenger” to the big screen.
“The Passenger” and “Stella Maris” were McCarthy’s final novels, both released in 2022. Set in New Orleans, around 1980, “The Passenger” followed Bobby and Alicia Western, two siblings whose father helped develop the atomic bomb. The book opens with her suicide.
McCarthy first began writing “The Passenger” in the 1980s, drafting the novel, intermittently, over the next few decades. It was finally released 40 years later, to much acclaim from literary critics.
Some have succeeded in adapting McCarthy novels for the big screen (“No Country For Old Men”) and others haven’t (“All the Pretty Horses”). John Hillcoat, who adapted “The Road”, is still working on his “Blood Meridian” big screen adaptation, with a screenplay penned by the late author himself.
As mentioned, Nichols has “The Bikeriders” ready to go. It’s set to be his first film in over 8 years, the last one was 2016’s “Loving.” That’s the longest break of his career. His filmography includes “Take Shelter,” “Mud,” and “Midnight Special.”