It's been nearly sixty years since beat generation icon, Jack Kerouac, wrote arguably his greatest novel, On the Road. Inspired by the many impromptu road trips he took with his equally talented colleagues, the story has Sam Riley(Control) playing aspiring New York writer Sal Paradise(a Kerouac alter ego). He finds a kindred spirit when he meets Dean Moriarty(Garrett Hedlund), a charismatic ex-con who just wants to live a free and unrestrained life. The two, along with Dean's seductive wife, Marylou(Kristen Stewart), hit to road to experience America first hand.
Francis Ford Coppola had designs on directing the film himself back in 1980, but after numerous false starts, he turned the reins over to Walter Salles, who chronicled Che Guevara's road trip through South America with The Motorcycle Diaries. The film has essentially been in the editing room for the last year, but I like that Salles waited until he got everything exactly as he wanted. The novel has proven hard to adapt for a reason, so why not spend every possible moment perfecting it?
There's no US release date yet, but the film will premier in France in May, and with a supporting cast that includes Amy Adams, Viggo Mortensen, and Kirsten Dunst, somebody is going to pick up the distribution rights. Along with the above poster, a handful of new images have been unveiled which you can check out below....
