The long rumoured A Walk In The Woods movie adaptation had its biggest indicator that it was on its way in late 2014 when Bill Bryson, author of the book, added news of its production to his website. With Robert Redford, and his production company, Wildwood Enterprises, behind the movie and Bryson’s incredibly funny story of woodland misadventure to focus on, the film could be set to go on to be a big hit for fans of the book.
Release
The reference on Bill Bryson’s website links off to a news story on Empire, which also confirms the more advanced status of the movie, announcing that filming started back in May 2014. The UK release date for the movie went on to be confirmed for Friday the 18th September 2015, following on the the US release on the 2nd September, making our prediction of an autumn 2015 general release pretty spot on. However, the film had its initial premier at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival on the 23rd January 2015.
Storyline
The storyline has been adapted from Bill Bryson’s memoir of the same name recounting his trek along the Appalachian Trail with his friend Stephen Katz starting off in Georgia in the south and planning to make it all the way to Maine, right at the very top of the East Coast of the United States. In an attempt to relive his glory days travelling with Katz in Europe, the two unlikely heroes band together in an attempt to walk the mammoth trail, a task that Bill is keen to point out that only 10% of people that set out to walk the full track make it (to the end that is, it doesn’t have a 90% mortality rate. That would be mental).
While the two set out with spirits as high as their lofty ambitions, they soon start to discover that they may well have taken on too big a task as the pair struggle under the weight of the load that they’ve bought along with them to take on the 2,200 mile hike. While dumping some of their kit along the way eases the load a little to begin with, it only leads to problems further down the line, and if that isn’t bad enough, Bill soon discovers that his friend from yesteryear is no longer the great travelling companion he remembers as he’s now a surly, out of shape recovering alcoholic with even less chance of making it through the daunting trail than the middle-aged Bryson.
However, despite all of the negativity that this conjures up, it’s actually an incredibly funny story, centred in the author’s brilliant comedy writing and trademark self-deprecating humour. It’s also a story of adventure as the stumbling fools manage to get into all manner of scrapes and tangles in and amongst the undergrowth along the Appalachian Trail.
Cast
Robert Redford (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) is down to star as Bill Bryson and he’s set to be accompanied along the way by Nick Nolte (Gangaster Squad), who takes on the unhappy role of Stephen Katz. The cast will also include Kristen Schaal of Flight Of The Concords and Bob’s Burgers fame, Emma Thomson (Men In Black 3), Mary Steenburgen (The Help) and Nick Offerman (The Lego Movie) as some of the characters that the rambling rabble bump into along the tumultuous way.
Production
The A Walk In The Woods movie adaptation will be directed by Ken Kwapis, who’s previous work includes the 2012 tale of saving grey whales in Alaska, Big Miracle, and 2009 romantic drama, He’s Just Not That Into You. The screen play has been written by Michael Arndt, who broke out in 2006 with the Little miss Sunshine screenplay and went on to write the random mix of Toy Story 3, Brave and Oblivion.
First Impressions
We’re looking forward to the prospect of A Walk In The Woods as the book is very funny and the cast that has been attached to the movie looks pretty impressive. It will all rest on the shoulders of Redford and Nolte though, with their on-screen dialogue and interaction being the most significant element in getting the comedy element of the memoir just right. If they can latch onto the comedy genius of Bill Bryson, then they should be able to make the film work well, but we’ll have to wait to see how it develops when the trailer comes out and the release date is announced.
