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As Danny Boyle’s new stage production of Frankenstein goes into previews at London’s National Theatre, his Oscar-nominated screenwriting collaborator Simon Beaufoy is working on a film project set in gangland Los Angeles.
It’s a venture called Sharp Teeth, and Beaufoy is hoping that Danny Boyle will jump onboard. He says: “If I write it well enough, he’ll direct it.”
As he explains, “It’s an adaptation of a book by a writer called Toby Barlow and it’s a very extraordinary mix of gangland Los Angeles, really, really rough — a lot of shootings — and the difference with this particular piece of work is that these gangs can shape-shift at will into packs of dogs.”
Simon Beaufoy has been researching his screenplay by riding along with the Los Angeles police. He’s found the experience refreshing: “It’s brilliant seeing a different part of L.A. When you’re involved with the movie industry and you go to awards ceremonies you miss out on what 90 per cent of what L.A. is, which is hard-working people, lots of unemployment, lots of really difficult social issues.”
There’s no word yet on who would headline the cast if the project comes to fruition. But it would bring Beaufoy together with not only Danny Boyle but also producer Chris Colson. They all collaborated to create the Oscar-adorned Slumdog Millionaire as well as 127 Hours. Colson says, “We love working with each other – and we all somehow find ways to get the best out of each other.”
Next stop for Simon Beaufoy is Oscars night, where he’s up for a best adapted screenplay award for 127 Hours which he co-wrote with Boyle. On that front their chances are slim: the favorite in that category is The Social Network screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, who’s widely considered the frontrunner.
Tom Brook‘s reports on cinema can be seen every Tuesday and Thursday morning on BBC America.
3 Comments
I’ve read the book and interviewed the author for NPR. I think this is a good match of tone and content. “Sharp Teeth” is called an “epic” because it is in fact written as an epic poem, in blank verse, with lots of hard-boiled mystery Homeric flourishes. There is humor, but no camp, period. Forget that, and Boyle doesn’t really do camp either, so that makes sense.
If done right, it will *seem* like a cinematic cross between Heat and The Wolfen, remembering of course that the movie The Wolfen has little to do with the book. (I wish they’d done Strieber’s novel, instead of what showed up on screen.)
“Sharp Teeth” truly has an epic crime novel feel, like Heat, and the “werewolves” shape-shift into large wolf-like dogs, not (as much as I love them) Rick Baker-like monsters.
Here’s a link to the book review: http://snipurl.com/1ze2op
Here’s a link to a long-form interview with the author:
http://snipurl.com/1ze3wi
Here’s a link to the NPR piece about the book and author, which includes comments from his editor, a very famous and smart woman:
http://snipurl.com/1ze4eg
Seen it all before…yawn…repeats…..
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