Under the Banner of Heaven

Screenwriter Dustin Lance Black Talks J. EDGAR, THE BAREFOOT BANDIT, and Ron Howard’s UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: November 10th, 2011 at 6:08 pm

With director Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar now playing in limited release, I recently got to speak with screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk).  Starring Leonardo DiCaprio as J. Edgar Hoover, the controversial founding director of the FBI, the film boasts a great supporting cast including Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts, Judi Dench, Josh Lucas and Ken Howard.  You can watch the trailer here.

During my exclusive interview, Lance Black talks about how he prepared to write the screenplay, why he wanted to tell the story, his reaction to Eastwood directing his screenplay, how they cut out a lot of the first act in the editing room, and how he wanted the script to be faithful to the truth.  In addition, he talked about The Barefoot Bandit, which is based on the true story of Colton Harris-Moore, and after he finishes he’ll move on to Under the Banner of Heaven, which is based on Jon Krakauer’s nonfiction book about Mormon fundamentalists.  Hit the jump for more.

Ron Howard and Dustin Lance Black Team Up To Adapt UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN for Warner Bros.

by Jason Barr    Posted: July 19th, 2011 at 7:36 pm

The great thing about being Ron Howard (aside from that sweet beard pictured above) is that when one of your projects gets shot down, you don’t have to worry about whether or not you’ll land on your feet. Case in point: only one day removed from Universal passing on his ambitious adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, the Oscar-winning director has already landed another gig. Per Deadline, Howard will join forces with Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk) on Warner Bros. adaptation of the Jon Krakauer novel Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith. Briefly, Heaven tells the story of a pair of brothers who murder their younger brother’s wife and infant daughter only to claim they were acting on orders from God.

Howard will also co-produce the pic alongside his Imagine cohort Brian Grazer. Jason Bateman, Stephanie Davis, and Shannon Costello will co-produce as well. In addition to Heaven, you may remember that Howard also has Rush starring Chris Hemsworth and a Spy vs. Spy adaptation waiting in the wings. As for Black, he penned the script for director Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, Armie Hammer, and Josh Lucas. Warner Bros. releases that pic on October 21st. For more on Heaven, hit the jump for a synopsis of Krakauer’s novel.

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