Dennis Lehane’s mind has been picked thrice for the silver screen: two times successful (Gone, Baby, Gone, Mystic River), the third, Shutter Island, coming out on February 19th and sporting a pedigree for success (Scorcese helming, DiCaprio starring, Michelle Williams, Ben Kingsley and Mark Ruffalo supporting).
That said, all of the Lehane film adaptations have been adapted by people who are not Dennis Lehane.
With Fox 2000’s purchase of Lehane’s Animal Rescue, the trend has been re-set. Lehane, never interested in writing his work for the screen before, will adapt his own short story, which is “about a killing resulting from a lost and contested pit bull.” [Publisher’s Weekly]
It kind of sounds like the 2008 indie Red, starring Brian Cox and Tom Sizemore, which concerned an old man out the avenge the unnecessary murder of his loyal dog by local trouble-doers.
Certainly not the strongest of hooks, but with Lehane behind something like this it’s hard not to be curious.
Rescue is only 27 pages but is held in high regard. Remember that The Shawshank Redemption was based on a Stephen King short story. Lehane hasn’t written much for media, save a few episodes of HBO’s The Wire. But then that crime drama is considered one of the best television shows of all time, so it would appear the man knows how to pick em.
What do you think of Lehane adapting his own material? Will it fare better or worse than the past adaptations?