Skip to footer

'Wild': The movie adaptation moves forward

Actress Reese Witherspoon is set to star as author Cheryl Strayed, and Strayed says writer Nick Hornby is on board to write the adaptation.

|
L: Lionel Cironneau/AP R: Stephen Hyde/Penguin Young Readers Group/PR Newswire
Actress Reese Witherspoon (l.) is set to star as writer Cheryl Strayed, and Strayed says author Nick Hornby (r.) is on board as screenwriter for the film.
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

The movie plans for an adaptation of “Wild,” the bestselling memoir by Cheryl Strayed about her solo journey on the Pacific Crest Trail, are moving forward, with “About A Boy” screenwriter Nick Hornby possibly on board to write the film.

The movie rights to “Wild” were bought by actress Reese Witherspoon’s production company Pacific Standard as well as by producer Bruna Papandrea, and Witherspoon is set to star as Strayed in the movie. Meanwhile, Strayed tweeted on Nov. 7, “Nick Hornby's desktop: Wild script in progress. (Squeal!)” with a link to what was presumably a photo. (The link is broken.)

“I couldn't be more thrilled," Strayed told the Oregonian when it was announced that Witherspoon will be bringing the movie to the screen and playing her. "She's such a wonderful combination of smart and charming. I really feel like she saw my vision and is the perfect person to bring it to the screen. If a genie gave me three wishes about who would play the part, she would be my first wish.”

Witherspoon was nominated for an Oscar for her role in the 2005 film “Walk the Line,” in which she portrayed June Carter Cash, and recently played a lead role – that of circus performer Marlena – in another high-profile adaptation, that of the Sara Gruen novel “Water for Elephants.”

Hornby is the author of the novels “Juliet, Naked,” “High Fidelity” and “Fever Pitch” and wrote the screenplay for the 2009 Oscar-nominated film “An Education,” which starred Carey Mulligan and Peter Sarsgaard. He is also writing the screenplay for the film “Brooklyn,” which is slated for a 2014 release and set to star “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” actress Rooney Mara.

“Wild,” which was selected by Oprah Winfrey as a book club pick, is currently at number 15 on the combined print and e-book nonfiction New York Times bestseller list for Nov. 11 and at number 9 on the e-book nonfiction list for the same week. The book was number one on the the combined print and e-book nonfiction list for six weeks starting July 22.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to 'Wild': The movie adaptation moves forward
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2012/1108/Wild-The-movie-adaptation-moves-forward
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe