All the ‘Glory’ for Scott Rudin

THR reports that Oscar-winning super producer Scott Rudin (upcoming Margaret and Revolutionary
Road) is adapting Sean Wilsey’s 1995 memoir Oh the Glory of It All with Miramax Films as the likely production partner.

Wilsey’s memoir immortalizes his coming-of-age within the
San Francisco elite of the 1980s. His mother, a socialite who fails at
convincing Wilsey to commit a double suicide with her, is joined by his father,
a seemingly contented and easy-going man who leaves his socialite wife only to
fall into her best friend’s arms.  With
his mother going a little mad, his stepmother becoming more than a little
domineering, and the father blissfully oblivious, Wilsey rebels–and gets sent
packing (to boarding school, of course). Scribe Mike White (Year of the Dog) is on board to write the screenplay and produce. 

Wealth, especially among those who don’t have it, inspires a
thinly veiled jealousy. But don’t “poo-poo” the poor little rich
boy. Sure, his sufferings don’t go the
way of typical sad-childhood territory–he happens to be more exciting than
that–but the memoir still has the ability to keep the reader from wanting
Wilsey’s life, no matter how large his riches.

Rudin is currently juggling a significant amount of projects
as main or exec producer – including 2009’s Julie & Julia based on the life of Julia Child. Many of his upcoming works
are based on adaptations of books and plays, including another Cormac McCarthy
effort Blood Meridian.

The novel has an enrapturing
allure – who wouldn’t want to step into Wilsey’s eccentric life, if only for
two hours – but is it true that good movies are born from good books?  Rudin seems to have found his formula and
adaptation business really suits him. But I am left wondering, out of fourteen
projects he has in the next few years, nine are adaptations of plays, books,
etc. While I applaud his success, at the rate he’s going I doubt any high
school students will be writing “book” reports in ten years.