Everyone wants to be Indiana Jones -- even Brad Pitt. Earlier this year, his production company Plan B optioned David Grann's book "The Lost City of Z," and now he has a director to helm it. According to Variety, James Gray ("We Own the Night") has signed on to adapt and direct the film, with Pitt starring and producing.
"Lost City" is the true story of British explorer Percy Fawcett, who is said to be one of the inspirations for Indiana Jones, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Lost World." Fawcett became determined to find the lost city of "Z," the center of an advanced civilization that existed in the depths of the jungle. In 1925, he mounted an expedition to find it, and headed into the South American jungle accompanied by his son, Jack. Neither returned, and their disappearence has been the focus of many stories and investigations.
Explorers have continued to search for their remains and the mythic lost city -- and in 2005, scholar Michael Heckenberger claimed to have found the latter, proving Fawcett's claims. Grann's book, which will be published in April, is the latest investigation into Fawcett's disappearence and Heckenberger's discovery.
It's a pretty cool story, and just the kind of adventure we need after "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." Director Gray is known largely for his character dramas, but tells Variety that he's eager to do something "entirely different," citing the book's epic scale and larger than life character in Fawcett. So, adventure might have a name again -- but who knew it would be Brad Pitt?
Are you up for looking for "The Lost City of Z" with Brad Pitt? Or should onscreen archaeology be left to Indiana Jones and Lara Croft?
Comments