Production has started on a film adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s 1962 novel Big Sur, Deadline reports. Michael Polish is set to both write and direct with a cast that includes Jean-Marc Barr, Josh Lucas and Kate Bosworth.
Big Sur, though autobiographical, tells the story of Jack Duluoz (the Kerouac character, to be played by Barr) and his relationship to fame following his sudden literary success (“On the Road” was released in 1957) and his troubles with substance abuse. Spread across three trips to Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s (called Lorenzo Monsanto in the book) cabin in the wilderness of Big Sur, the story also features Duluoz’s relationship with Billie (Jackie Gibson Mercer in real life and Bosworth in the film), the mistress of his best friend, Cody Pomeray (Neal Cassady, to be played by Lucas).
Polish previously wrote and directed Twin Falls Idaho and The Astronaut Farmer, among other films.
Walter Salles take on Kerouac’s most famous novel, On the Road is still planned for later this year with Sam Riley and Garrett Hedlund in the Kerouac and Cassady parts (called Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty, in the text).
