McCarthy's "Road" heads to movie theaters

By Gregg Goldstein

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer Prize-winning apocalyptic thriller "The Road" is on its way to the big screen, becoming the author's third book to get the feature treatment.

The project centers on a father who walks alone with his son through a ravaged postwar American landscape in search of civilization.

"The Road" was the April 2007 Oprah's Book Club selection, gaining McCarthy an even broader audience. His 2005 crime thriller "No Country for Old Men" recently was adapted for the screen by the Coen brothers for Miramax and Paramount Vantage. His 1992 novel "All the Pretty Horses" was brought to the screen by director Billy Bob Thornton in 2000.

While Viggo Mortensen ("Eastern Promises") had been attached to play the lead role, no deal is in place.

"The Road" is scheduled to begin production in January. John Hillcoat ("The Proposition") will direct. Harvey and Bob Weinstein's Dimension Films is in final negotiations to distribute "The Road" in North America.

The film's producer, Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban's 2929 Prods., will handle all international sales and distribution.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter