Just one day after news broke of the potential cancellation of Ron Howard’s proposed multi-tiered Stephen King adaptation, The Dark Tower, comes word that Howard has another project lined up at Warner Bros. Deadline reports that he will adapt Jon Krakauer’s Under the Banner of Heaven with a script to be written by Dustin Lance Black (Milk).
Krakauer, the author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air, published the non-fiction book in 2003. It is officially described as follows.
At the core of [“Under the Banner of Heaven”] is an appalling double murder committed by two Mormon Fundamentalist brothers, Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a revelation from God commanding them to kill their blameless victims. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this “divinely inspired” crime, Krakauer constructs a multilayered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, savage violence, polygamy, and unyielding faith. Along the way, he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America’s fastest-growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.
The project, which reteams Howard with producer Brian Grazer (along with producers Shannon Costello, Jason Bateman and Stephanie Davis), is likely some time off as he’ll next helm the Formula One biopic Rush and has also become attached to the “Mad Magazine” property Spy vs. Spy.
