When I first read Edward Abbey’s The Monkey Wrench Gang, I not only fell in love with one of my favorite books, but I was also struck at how naturally cinematic the novel was. The characters are colorful, the settings made for wide-focus lenses, and the plot — about four social misfits trying to destroy the new Glen Canyon damn — seemed destined for a subversive action movie.

Over the past few years, there’s been some on-again, off-again interest from Hollywood in adopting Abbey’s missive for the big screen. Now it appears the interest is on-again … at least, according to us outdoorsy bloggers. As one of the few of those outdoorsy bloggers actually living in Hollywood and writing for television, I figured it’s one of my duties to fan the internet interest flames.

National Parks Traveler pulled up some confirmed information, like the director, as well as some unconfirmed stuff — like a potential cast of Richard Dreyfuss, Jack Nicholson, and John Goodman — all of whom strike me as a bit too old for those roles … unless Goodman’s cast for the sheriff.

IMDB has more sparse information, but does list Hollywood megawriter William Goldman (“Misery,” “The Princess Bride,” “All the Presidents’ Men,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” etc.) as one of the screenwriters, which is very good news.

It’s probably going to be a very, very long time before this thing hits any theaters, but I’m already looking forward to it.

Image by Kris247

Tags: Edward Abbey, Hollywood, The Monkey Wrench Gang movie