Ron Howard And Dustin Lance Black Teaming For ‘Under The Banner Of Heaven’
Now thatThe Dark Towerhasfallenat Universal,Ron Howardis free to explore some of the other projects that he has in various stages of development. As a start, he’ll shoot the true-life Formula One racing movieRushlater this year, withChris HemsworthandDaniel Bruhlin the starring roles.
Now we can add another project to his development pile: Warner Bros is packaging an adaptation ofJon Krakauer’s bookUnder the Banner of Heaven, withDustin Lance Black(Milk,J. Edgar) writing forRon Howardto direct.
Deadlinescooped the story, noting that this will be a reunion of Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Dustin Lance Black, who worked together (as producers and writer) on Clint Eastwood’sJ. Edgar. And Dustin Lance Black wrote more than a dozen episodes for the Mormon HBO dramaBig Love, which could make him a good fit for this story.
That’s because, as Deadline puts it,Under the Banner of Heavenfollows, " two brothers who murdered the wife and infant daughter of their younger brother. The killers claimed they were acting on orders from God, consistent with their interpretation of a fundamentalist interpretation that goes back to the formation of Mormonism. The brothers were members of a splinter group called the School of Prophets, which adhered to original tenets of the faith that included polygamy and a belief that true believers could speak directly with God. These were rooted as the faith grew to a mainstream appeal, but the brothers remain convinced they were obeying God’s command when they committed the heinous crime."
So this is possibly good new ground for Ron Howard to cover — between this,Rushand the time spent onThe Dark Tower, hopefully he’ll change up his approach a little bit. No more Dan Brown adaptations and/or films likeThe Dilemma, please.
The director also has the Max Landis-scripted filmAmnestyin development, as well as apossibleSpy Vs. Spymovie, based on the classic black and white strips fromMad Magazine.
Oh, and with respect toThe Dark Tower,Stephen Kingsaid todaythat he’s sure Ron Howard will make it at another studio. For what that’s worth…
