‘Catfish’ Filmmakers To Adapt ’70s Satire ‘The Monkey Wrench Gang’
Henry JoostandAriel Schulman, who made the Sundance 2010 hit/talking pointCatfish, and went on to directParanormal Activity 3, are now set to write and directThe Monkey Wrench Gang. The film is an adaptation of a 1975 novel byEdward Abbeythat has been in development for over a decade. It’s a weird book, following a quartet of misfits who attempt to stymie industrial development in the southwest US by employing some unusual sabotage.Deadlineprints a statement from Joost and Schulman:
Producer Edward R. Pressman says the film will “connect to the humor and cultural zeitgeist of today in the same way Abbey’s book does,” as he promises an “irreverent comedy.” The idea of these two making a film of the novel is intriguing, because it isn’t at all in line with what I would have expected from them afterCatfishand twoParanormal Activityfilms.
Ex-Green Beret George Hayduke has returned from war to find his beloved southwestern desert threatened by industrial development. Joining with Bronx exile and feminist saboteur Bonnie Abzug, wilderness guide and outcast Mormon Seldom Seen Smith, and libertarian billboard torcher Doc Sarvis, M.D., Hayduke is ready to fight the power—taking on the strip miners, clear-cutters, and the highway, dam, and bridge builders who are threatening the natural habitat. The Monkey Wrench Gang is on the move—and peaceful coexistence be damned!
Joost and Schulman are alsoset to directParanormal Activity 4, which is set for release on October 19 of this year. So presumably that will shoot first (if it hasn’t already) withThe Monkey Wrench Gangto follow.
