Like hoverbikes and private space travel (actually kind of a thing now!), there are a lot of "in development" projects that those of us who grew up in the '80s have been waiting to see come to fruition since, well, the '80s. A film adaptation of A Confederacy of Dunces is one of these projects. Vulture reports that lovable beard-o Zach Galifianakis is attached to play Ignatius J. Reilly, James Bobin (The Muppets) to direct, Phil Johnston (Cedar Rapids) to write, and Scott Rudin to produce via Paramont. Our hearts are all pittter-patter again.
For those not in the know, John Kennedy Toole’s posthumously published work follow a well-educated, unapologetically elitist thirty-year-old slob who still lives with his mother in New Orleans' Uptown neighborhood as he searches for work, watches movies, and encounters a wealth of the city's eccentrics and weirdos. It is wonderful and hilarious and nearly un-filmable. Which means that if it's done right, it will be absolutely amazing.
And Galifianakis may be just the person to do it. Confederacy has had a long and varied history of adaptation attempts: Harold Ramis originally attempted to make the thing in 1982, and John Waters was even set to direct at one point. John Belushi, Divine, John Candy, Chris Farley, John Goodman, Will Ferrell, half of whom are dead now, were variously in talks to star. But famous deaths, devastating hurricanes, disorganization, lack of interest, and the murder of the head of the Loisiana State Film Department caused endless delays.
Maybe it won't happen. Hopefully it will. And hopefully nothing terrible will happen to Galifianakis. But as Reilly himself notes, "When Fortuna spins you downward, go out and make a bitchin' movie adaptation."
