John Hillcoat Won’t Be Going to The Promised Land; Film Scrapped Due to Financing Woes

Posted on Monday, January 4th, 2010 by Russ Fischer

Well, this is a lousy way to start the year. Over the last few months we’ve been watching as The Road director John Hillcoat attempted to kickstart a film adaptation of Matt Bondurant’s novel The Wettest County in the World, which evidently was to be called The Promised Land on screen. Hillcoat had a script by Nick Cave and a solid cast attached, including Ryan Gosling and Shia LaBeouf.

Now, in a piece printed in the UK, Hillcoat says the film is dead as he expresses a dismal view of the film business in general. Read More »

John Hillcoat’s Next Courting Amy Adams for Female Lead, Retitled The Promised Land?

Posted on Sunday, November 29th, 2009 by Russ Fischer

I’ve been keenly eyeing news on John Hillcoat’s potential adaptation of The Wettest County in the World, scripted by Nick Cave based on the novel by Matt Bondurant. There’s been significant maybe/hopefully casting news for the film so far, but not much more. Hillcoat seems to have Shia LaBeouf and Ryan Gosling interested and/or attached, and there was word that other actors, like Scarlett Johansson and Michael Shannon, were interested. Now, based on some art from the American Film Market, it appears that the leading female role will go, in an ideal world, to Amy Adams. And the film may just have a slightly shorter and more generic title: The Promised Land. Read More »