Legendary director Mike Nichols (The Graduate, Closer) is currently in talks to possibly direct One Last Thing Before I Go, a film adaptation of author Jonathan Tropper’s novel of the same name.  J.J. Abrams will be producing the film under his company Bad Robot.  Adapted for Paramount Studios, One Last Thing Before I Go tells the story of a washed up rock band drummer named Drew Silver who tries to reconnect with his soon-to-be-remarried ex-wife and his estranged, pregnant daughter.  This project would be unique for Nichols, not only because it would be his first film since 2007’s Charlie Wilson’s War, but also because it would be a reunion with Abrams, who wrote the screenplay for Nichols’s 1991 drama Regarding Henry, starring Harrison Ford.  [Editor's note: No deal or offer are on the table as of yet.] Hit the jump for a plot synopsis and more details on the film. 

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Tropper’s literary works have been gaining popularity in Hollywood, as another one of his novels, This Is Where I Leave You, has been adapted to a screenplay for director Shawn Levy (Real Steel), which will star Jason Bateman (Identity Thief) and Tina Fey (30 Rock).  Consequently, the author’s stock has risen.  Per THR, it cost the studio seven figures for rights to the film and a screenplay written by Tropper himself.  I am very excited at the possibility of Nichols helming this film for a couple of reasons.  First, reuniting the veteran director with the now well-established Abrams seems like a formula for success, not just because of Regarding Henry, but because of how talented both filmmakers are.  Additionally, I think that Nichols would do a good job of interpreting the themes and tone of Tropper’s writing.  One Last Thing Before I Go is about a man’s profound need for human connection and family despite having let people down, and who better to direct than the man who directed existential classics like Regarding Henry and The Graduate?  Do you agree?  Feel free to share your thoughts and comments below.  

Here is the book description for One Last Thing Before I Go per Amazon:

“You don’t have to look very hard at Drew Silver to see that mistakes have been made. His fleeting fame as the drummer for a one-hit wonder rock band is nearly a decade behind him.  He lives in the Versailles, an apartment building filled almost exclusively with divorced men like him, and makes a living playing in wedding bands. His ex-wife, Denise, is about to marry a guy Silver can’t quite bring himself to hate. And his Princeton-bound teenage daughter Casey has just confided in him that she’s pregnant—because Silver is the one she cares least about letting down.”