After working together on 2016’s sci-fi movieMidnight Special,Adam Driverand writer-directorJeff Nicholsare re-teaming for an adaptation ofDavid Grann’s New Yorker articleYankee Comandante, reportsVariety.
Published in May 2012, “The Yankee Comandante” outlines how two people rose to the rank of “comandante” during the Cuban Revolution. One wasChe Guevara, and the other was a white man from Ohio.
Nichols will direct from his own screenplay, and Imperative Entertainment and 30 West are currently shopping the project to select studios, with production slated to start next year once the COVID-19 pandemic has calmed down a bit and it’s deemed safe to resume production.
Driver has already seen one of his films halted in its tracks due to the ongoing pandemic, asRidley Scott’sThe Last Duelwas forced to suspend production. The period drama also starsMatt Damon,Jodie ComerandBen Affleck, and it was hard enough to get everyone’s schedules to line up in the first place.
Driver is coming off a banner year in which he earned an Oscar nomination for his incredible performance inMarriage Storyand drew strong reviews for his turn in Amazon’sThe Reportbefore reprising his role as Kylo Ren inStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Driver probably would’ve won Best Actor had he not run into the force of nature that wasJoaquin Phoenix’s performance inJoker.
Nichols has yet to make a bad film, though his feature debutShotgun Storiesremains my favorite of his work. In addition toMidnight Special, Nichols also directed the acclaimed dramasTake Shelter,Mud, andLoving, the latter of which earned starRuth Neggaan Oscar nomination.
Meanwhile, Grann has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2003, and his work has served as the basis of several movies in just the last few years. His bookThe Last City of Zwas turned into the 2016 movie of the same name starringCharlie Hunnam,Robert PattinsonandTom Holland, and he also wrote the articles that inspired theRobert RedfordmovieThe Old Man & the Gun, theJim CarreythrillerDark Crimes, and theLaura Dern-Jack O’ConnelldramaTrial by Fire.
Grann also wrote the bookKillers of the Flower Moon, whichMartin Scorsesehopes to start shooting soon withLeonardo DiCaprioandRobert De Niro, provided he can find someone willing to finance the big-budget film. For the latest on where that project stands,click here.
