QUILLBLOG

Which is more worrisome: Jack Black as Kesey, or Angelina Jolie as Scarpetta?

In book-related film news, Quillblog is tickled pink (or kandy-kolored, as the case may be) to learn that Gus Van Sant has agreed to direct a film version of Tom Wolfe’s classic work of gonzo journalism, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Of course, one devoutly hopes that the film will be helmed by the Gus Van Sant who directed Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho, not the one who directed Finding Forrester and Psycho.) It is less encouraging to learn that one of the actors being considered for the role of Ken Kesey is former Kung Fu Panda Jack Black. Another contender is Woody Harrelson, who at least has the credentials to play the role. According to Rolling Stone:

Carolyn Garcia (a.k.a. Mountain Girl), a Prankster and former wife of Jerry Garcia, said Harrelson visited Kesey shortly before he died. “They went out into the field and had a pretty good mind meld,” Garcia says. “I just know he could play the role.”

In other news, Variety is reporting that Angelina Jolie has agreed to portray Kay Scarpetta, Patricia Cornwell’s coroner hero in a yet-to-be-titled film for Fox 2000. Billed as a psychological thriller in the tradition of Seven and The Silence of the Lambs, the casting of the central role is certain to give pause to anyone who remembers Jolie’s last, less-than-enthralling foray into literary-thriller territory, the lamentable film version of Jeffrey Deaver’s The Bone Collector.