Jeff Nichols will be plenty busy for the foreseeable future, planning an original script and adapting Cormac McCarthy’s last books.
Jeff Nichols has big plans for his future, as he has announced that in addition to his planned Cormac McCarthy adaptations, he will be penning his first original feature since 2016’s Midnight Special.
Jeff Nichols got his start as one of the most distinct auteurs to emerge in the mid-2000s, writing and directing Shotgun Stories, Take Shelter, Mud, and the aforementioned Midnight Special. His two most recent features, Loving and this year’s The Bikeriders, both had their roots in true stories, with the latter being adapted from a photo book. On the mixture of projects, Nichols told Deadline, “I’ve been making period pieces and films inspired by other people’s work and this next film for better or worse is going to be cut from Jeff Nichols cloth.”
In addition to these, Jeff Nichols will also go back to adapting, as he will take on Cormac McCarthy’s two Passenger books, The Passenger and Stella Maris, which ended up being the author’s final works before his 2023 death. McCarthy is a notoriously challenging author to adapt; add to that the books have been described by Penguin as “a breathtaking novel of morality and science, the legacy of sin, and the madness that is human consciousness” and “a philosophical inquiry that questions our notions of God, truth, and existence”, Nichols most definitely has his work cut out for him.
While there aren’t many details about Jeff Nichols’ planned seventh feature, we do know it will be set in Arkansas, the director’s native state where he also set Shotgun Stories and Mud. It’s also not entirely known if it is the same film that was reportedly set to star Brad Pitt.
I’ve been a fan of Jeff Nichols’ since first seeing Shotgun Stories, seeing him as the sort of visionary that was picking up where David Gordon Green left off. While I still respect Green for going back to roots of his best films (please see George Washington if you haven’t) with works like Prince Avalanche and Joe, his focus on stoner comedies and now horror reinventions has knocked him down too many pegs. But Nichols has remained loyal; OK, maybe he got a little too close to the superhero game, but he has emerged and stands as one of the most consistent and capable directors working today. Now let’s hope the studio gives these films a chance to breathe in theaters, unlike The Bikeriders…
Are you a fan of Jeff Nichols? Which of his planned films are you most looking forward to?
