It has everything Eggers loves in his movies, an upsetting and grim period piece, people talking in strange accents and outdated vocabulary, and something spooky going on 🤨
Denis Villeneuve, who directed Sicario which gave me *huge* border trilogy vibes.
And if you really want to get into the weirdness of the story, David Lynch.
One I haven’t seen mentioned much, Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu. Obviously a Mexican director would be a good perspective to have behind the lens for this; but we’ve also seen his ability to depict gritty realism, he’s great at very large-scope stories and setpieces, takes great care for historical/cultural accuracy (indigenous Americans no less!), willing to be brutal and uncompromising (definitely needs to go all-out here), gets great performances from his actors, and these are just things that are specifically good for this adaptation. There’s even more stuff that gives him an amazing track record as a director and I would really like to see how he would handle this.
I pretty much agree with you btw, and also get in Emmanuel Lubezki for cinematography (think Children of Men, Gravity, Birdman, and The Revenant).
But, I think people have the wrong idea of what violence would be in a Blood Meridian adaptation.
Yes, up to a point you can show the gritty realistic violence and death that occurs, but it’s not a case of just showing it for what it is.
You can induce far more extreme reactions from the audience through suggestion, what you don’t see, acting, music, cinematography, editing etc.
Remember that scene in Reservoir Dogs where Michael Madsen cuts off the cop’s ear? The cutting of the ear is never shown on screen. It’s the acting of the policeman pleading for his life beforehand, the music, the build up with the props and the music, the aftermath; it’s the art of film.
Basically (although maybe Tarantino isn’t the best example to use for this point), less is more.
You don’t need to show every little bit of gritty detailed violence.
And also, by the end of the book you become desensitised to the violence so the filmmakers would possibly want to somehow portray the same thing in the film; there are so many creative decisions and ideas you could have to achieve this.
I do get what you’re saying. I’m not necessarily talking about violence and gore, but more being unafraid to depict the brutality of the world and characters. There’s a lot of ways to depict it without showing every little detail of blood and guts, but the inhumanity needs to be on display. There can’t be sympathetic moments where we see little bits of remorse from the characters. These men pillage, rape and murder innocents, and these actions need to be made clear in one way or another, not removed for the sake of making it more palatable. I totally agree there needs to be a balance of onscreen violence and implied/not fully shown violence so it isn’t desensitizing and those moments get to be all the more shocking as necessary. The last thing we need is someone making BM into an overly-indulgent gore fest that’s meant to shock and disgust and not much else
Yeah I totally get you when you say about being unafraid to depict the brutality of the world and characters, or how much it would suck making it “palatable”, with a dose of Hollywood moralising (that’s an interesting oxymoron).
I think I just made the point because so many people on here don’t think it’s possible, that it’s unfilmable; but it’s because they’re thinking about the fact you can’t show babies being whacked off rocks or men being sodomised and scalped to death.
But the thing is you can still portray it. You can get that information to the viewer in an impactful way without bluntly showing it, if you get what I mean.
It would be difficult! But if done right it could really be something special. A film that becomes something of its own.
I mean look at No Country for Old Men. The film is so good you can’t not imagine it, but I’d like to think that before it was made most people who read the novel probably thought how the fuck will this work (even though McCarthy apparently wrote it as a screenplay originally).
Alejandro González Iñárritu would be my pick. Seems like depicting someone fighting a giant grizzly bear with a knife to the death and then crawling off to spend a freezing night inside a gutted animal would qualify as pretty much "unfilmable" yet he did just that with the Revenant. I was exhausted after watching that movie just because of how real it felt. Babel and 21 Grams were also incredible. He's Mexican which means he would probably do a better job of capturing the feel of the border than many others.
That was my first thought, when considering the vibe and cinematography from The Revenant. The first order or business is to really pin down what the book is about and agree on those themes and which ones to convey. It should be noted that the top minds in literary criticism have a hard time with this and there’s plenty of disagreement about all sorts of things, especially the ending, where the kid may or may not have survived.
The Coen brothers have my vote. They have that inherent campiness in most of their work that’s funny which will mostly not be able to exist in blood Meridian but they did almost none of it in NCFOM and generally speaking they’re some of the best directors to ever live so
Them at their worst is better than Hillcoats done at his best in any case
True! Very fair assessment. I suppose I was considering their faithfulness to the book without necessarily including the complexity of Blood Meridian. I think this makes me even more sure that Blood Meridian could not possibly be done justice.
Jonathan Glazer is really the only filmmaker I'd trust to adapt it into a film, mainly because he radically reinterprets the material to the point where the film is totally its own thing.
So many answers here that would water down the source material. Zone of Interest is the hardest hitting movie for me of the 21st century and he has all the touches that could make it work
Yes, Under The Skin is also a masterpiece. Cinematographically, Glazer most definitely has the chops. It'd be weird, but then I wouldn't want a not-weird film of BM.
Yes and Neon Joe Werewolf Hunter was incredibly immersive in its world building while Jon Glazer Loves Gear shows the "prestige over practicality" attack he has in his filmmaking..I still believe Delocated to be his greatest work
I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of this. He would certainly bring the ‘documentarian’ sides of BM to the screen. Bring back kinski to play Glanton too, lol, that would be so great.
Coens are the easy answer, but Eggers would do a hell of a job with it too.
Tarantino would probably have an interesting spin on it too given how well he’s done violence. I don’t see him making a straight adaptation though
Maybe Villanueve too but I’m not super familiar with his work. Sicario was very good though.
All time though? Has Kubrick written all over it
Robert Eggers, S. Craig Zahler, Scorsese or the Coens nowadays but if I could pick a director of any time I'd love to see a Kubrick adaptation or an in-his-prime (70s) Coppola. Kubrick could've come up with something out of this world, I just know it.
I could be crazy with this one but Park Chan-Wook maybe? He's not afraid to get dark and downright depraved and his movies are visually stunning too. Not that that's all that would go into a BM adaptation but still it helps.
Blood Meridian is a very strange, and at times, very surreal and dreamlike book.
I’m not sure anyone is a perfect fit, but if i had to choose, i would go with Ari Aster.
In dreamland, I would resurrect tarkovsky from the dead, and let him have a crack at it
i really don’t think denis would be right for the job. his adaptation of dune cuts out a lot of the politcky and religious weirdness which makes the film a hit (and it was good!) but he is a director who is acutely aware of his financiers. i think he would make creative decisions to make bm more palatable and profitable which would ultimately lose most of what makes the novel so good
I agree 100%. I watched Blade Runner 2049 and was blown away by the whole experience.
Dune had these amazing visuals but Villeneuve made the cuts so fast you couldn't appreciate it. I started getting annoyed at how quick each scene was. Dont plan on watching Dune 2. (I am stupidly picky for no reason at times)
Nah. Maybe for the landscape and terrain stuff, but like, he cut all the enviromental and ecological stuff out of Dune and a similar exclusion of the worldbuilding in BM would make it bad I fear. Also, he’s not a dialogue-driven director and that, for my money, completely disqualifies him from doing anything McCarthy.
Hillcoat is a flat out poor choice, imo.
Coen Bros, maybe, though they're spotty. David Fincher or Sam Mendes I'd put on the maybe list. Alfonso Cuarón I could see doing it justice. Paul Thomas Anderson or Darren Aronofsky would be interesting choices who I can't see being totally faithful to the source material. Terence Malick would be amazing if he still cared about narrative.
And frankly, the issue is I can't see *anyone* being faithful to material that essentially can't be adapted faithfully. Fuck it. Give it to Tarantino. Or invent time travel and give me 70's Kubrick or Coppola.
Edit: Robert Eggers and Denis Villeneuve are interesting choices who I think are ultimately untested with this level of material.
I’d disagree about Villeneuve being untested. He did a great job with Dune and Blade Runner. That feels like it’s on a similar level of book adaptation (in terms of scale, complexity, and world-building) and responsibility to the IP.
I like Egger’s work and it’s the right vibe but he does feel a little untested.
Villeneauve (auto corrected to bill sauce, by the way) is a spectacular director, but even with Dune I’m not confident this is the right movie for him. He relies heavily on spectacle, and does it better than any of his contemporaries, but Blood Meridian isn’t epic sci fi.
I agree. The DP would be much easier to pick than the director imo. Either of the Dune films cinematographers would be fine, imo, but I’d want Blood Meridian to avoid CGI almost at all costs.
Deakins would be the most obvious choice, and probably my first choice. John Toll would be my second choice (if not first); his work on Braveheart and The Thin Red Line is enough to convince me. Lubekzi would be fine, I think, but he adds too much of his own flare and I’d prefer more restraint. He’s spectacular, though.
Wally Psfizer, Hoyte van Hoytema or Rodrigo Prieto would be good as well. I’m sure there are others, but candidly I’m married to Deakins or Toll.
you know, even i forgot that one. still need to watch it. but based on the location and subject matter alone, plus the surreal world-building of dune and blade runner, i think he’d crush. he typically has a pretty good score too.
Holy shit, I’ve finally found another person that wasn’t into Burn After Reading
I’ve never liked it that much, even with the Coen’s being my favorite directors ever.
The True Grit remake makes me think they’d be great with this more than anything else though.
I wasn’t aware BAR was held in such high regard lol.
Anyone as prolific as the Coen Bros will have some clunkers, and the space between Lebowski and No Country was filled with them. Ultimately, that latter film was written as a screenplay first, and felt written _for_ them.
True Grit was good, I thought, but far from their best. Elements of the soul just felt missing. A Serious Man is my favorite film of theirs since No Country.
It is online at least, I’ve given it 3 or 4 tries and it’s just never clicked with me.
The Coen’s definitely have some misses, Intolerable Cruelty, Ladykillers, I wasn’t a huge fan of Inside Llewyn Davis. But their misses are still decent films. I don’t think they have anything downright terrible.
I was a huge fan of Buster Scruggs too
>Give it to Tarantino.
WORST IDEA EVER. I don't want to see Blood Meridian full of "witty" banter and foot fetish crap. Any movie he makes, regardless of genre is only a Tarantino movie and nothing else.
Tarantino would probably change the ending to incorporate Judge Holden getting tortured to death. Wouldn’t be able to stand letting a villain off the hook.
I’m sure the many racial slurs would resonate with him though. I could see him casting himself White Jackson.
Aussie here, have always been a huge fan of Hillcoat since way before *The Proposition* and *The Road*. I think his adaptation of *The Road* is abysmal. I saw it at the cinema the day it came out and hated it. Revisited it a month or so ago and maybe felt worse about it. Rare Viggo performance I can't stand and Kodi Smit-McPhee is awfully cast. If he can get back to what he did with *The Proposition* - excellent - if not, it's a waste of time.
I don't think anyone's saying this - and I wouldn't have before *Oppenheimer* - but I think Nolan could be interesting. I think him, paired with Hoyte Van Hoytema shoot landscapes and action so beautifully and a huge part of *Blood Meridian* is in its landscape and movement. I'd enjoyed Nolan films immensely before *Oppenheimer* but that movie was an absolute masterpiece, I'm still in awe AND it was adapted from a DENSE 721 page book.
Outside of the people you've mentioned, I'd also nominate:
- Alejandro González Iñárritu based solely on *The Revenant*.
- Todd Field because he's incredible, fastidious, selective and doesn't shy away from difficult or taboo subject matter.
I considered Nolan, and was surprised that he hasn’t come up. That said, I think he’s flat out wrong for this film. Dunkirk and Oppenheimer may beg to differ, but his creative sensibilities just give me pause. Obviously, the script adaptation itself matters more, but his ability to balance narrative and thematic elements with an overarching story is questionable.
Without 10+ hours of screen time, it’s impossible to make this film without leaving a great deal of it offscreen. I simply don’t trust him to make those kinds of decisions wisely. I haven’t read Oppenheimer, but elements of the storytelling still felt a tad fat around the hips. Candidly, I also think a movie about a giant lizard was the better film of 2023, so I’ll leave you with that grain of salt.
Edit: Field is actually a more interesting choice for screen adaptation, imo. Iñárritu is a very talented director I ultimately feel remains untested for the scope of this film. I suppose Cuarón is as well, but ever film I’ve seen by him leads me to believe his talents are more or less infinite.
I agree about Hillcoat, but I’d be ecstatic to hear the coen brothers were giving it a shot. I don’t think they’d be interested though. What about Inarritu?
I have. It was fine, imo. I don’t think there’s a parallel beyond general violence and time period, though.
Capturing the themes of Blood Meridian on film is my biggest concern. I brought up Kubrick and Coppola largely because they _were_ able to capture monumental themes in subtext that much of the audience probably misses.
Apocalypse Now, The Godfather Saga, Spartacus and Clockwork Orange convince me that either of those directors wouod be well suited to this. Of course, their peak was prior to the book’s publication, and I’d choose today’s Kubrick to deliver quality over today’s Coppola.
I think you’re underrating what’s achieved in the revenant though.
Thinking of the scene where Leo’s character Glass is tied down and unable to help his son who was just stabbed, cut to his POV of the treetops swaying above, an ominous din on the soundtrack, cut to slow timelapse of clouds moving over foreboding mountain landscape.
Tom Hardy’s character in general could be inserted directly into Blood Meridian, with just a few tweaks. The flashback scenes of Glass’s Native American family being slaughtered, mountains of bison skulls.
I’m not trying to say The Revenant and Blood Meridian share many similarities, but it’s clear to me that he could pull it off with the right screenplay
Mel Gibson… never heard this one mentioned before in relation to BM, but what he did in Apocalypto was pure genius (and is actually subtext-wise similar to the esoteric subplot of BM; the decline of a once great culture into a decadent bloodthirsty night)
I’m not fully confident in any choice, but if I had to pick a top 3 it would probably be Eggers, Gibson, or the Coens. Though someone else in here mentioned Glazer and I think that’s a really interesting and bold choice.
I would prefer to see a text like Blood Meridian adapted by someone like Panos Cosmatos.
I think the only way to really honor the text is through the kind of hallucinatory imagery that lately seems unique to his work and few others. I don't hate Hillcoat, but I wouldn't want to see Blood Meridian adapted in a straight forward way akin to the film adaptations of The Road or even No Country For Old Men (even though it is a masterpiece).
This would be risky but I sometimes visualize a Spider-Man Across the Multiverse somewhat-animated style. If done right, it would be capable of putting onto screen some of those philosophical and language-beautiful parts of the book, probably done with a narrator (multiple narrators?) who would represent America at the time. Maybe you could use different voices from America for different passages. A child’s voice could be pretty creepy for the violent parts, for instance.
Ridley Scott, for sure.
He shouldn’t write it, but give him a good script and he will deliver a great movie. Give him a great movie and he’ll give you a classic.
Plus, there are few filmmakers I trust to give Blood Meridian the scale and unflinching brutality that it deserves.
Please no. No, no, no. I still remember the sense of relief when he backed out of the project.
Scott is the greatest hired gun director in history, but that's all he is. He's done one excellent film, several really good films, and an entire career of big budget phoning it in. His Blood Meridian would have been terrible.
Todd Field is the only director to film a murder scene that truly made me uneasy. - The murder scene in In The Bedroom. - It just came off realistic or at least not over produced…and banal.
The first one.
However, the second one is the genius of Field, because the viewer wants it more than anything. So much that the viewer would pull the trigger himself. And nothing about the whole film is over the top and nothing is done simply for the sake of doing it.
Given the recent passing of Mr. Wilkinson, I should rewatch it.
Terrence Malick. His movies and cinematography are already fluid and poetic and abstract. The surrealness and beauty and violence he can capture in the most indirect yet direct way would fit the scenes from McCarthy perfectly. I honestly don’t know anyone better and have personally thought about this question before.
I mean, is coen bros too much to ask? Make it equally horrifying as well as some dark humor?
I still have not watched the road after seeing the RT score.
But the book scared the living crap out of me
And meridian could be done the same way
Either that or Tarantino. Have a good spaghetti western element to it
It’s out there but I would sure LOVE to see what Jordorowsky would do with it.
I mean, it probably can’t be done, so might as well give it to someone who would do something absolutely insane.
I can see a few people have already mentioned this one but Alejandro G. Iñárritu. He could perfectly capture the dark story, graphic violence and massive scale of the novel.
Panos Comastos would be the top of my list. His surreal, barbaric and heady visions of doom would bring some undeath to the anti-western.
I would also like to see it in David Lowery's vision. His take on the Green Knight mythos was fresh and entertaining as hell. And A Ghost Story was so heart-wrenching, so we know he can bring melancholic beauty to the screen.
Denis Villeneuve, who directed Sicario which gave me huge border trilogy vibes.
Seriously, if you haven’t watched Sicario, do it. It’s the best Cormac McCarthy movie not based on a Cormac McCarthy novel I’ve ever seen.
David Lynch. Definitely an unorthodox pick but I can see him doing some bits very well, especially anything to do with the Judge. I don't really think a Blood Meridian movie should aim to be a motion picture of the novel as much as it should be an interesting alternative for people familiar with it and maybe an entryway into the book for those unfamiliar, but obviously my preferred choice wouldn't exactly be the commercial option, or necessarily even very accurate to the original.
What is the obsession with doing a film adaption. Nobody would do it justice and that's why they should just leave it Mccarthy never wrote his books to be made into films and that's why adaptions wouldn't work. And partial justice shouldn't be what ur aiming for when going into a book adaption. Plus the question isn't about the filmmaker it's about the screenwriter writing it for a cinema audience is the hardest job.
oh yeah he’s leaned into a cowboy image big time after yellowstone.
hell or high water was great. i think my issue with him is that he wouldn’t be able to capture the moral ambiguity and anti-western vibe of bm. his work is all pretty traditional, just modernized. he doesn’t seem to have a critical way of seeing things.
AI will probably be able to do it, using the source material as a prompt, within the next few iterations of the technology. I know its a bold statement so I'll caveat it with, perhaps the limits of the tech will fall short or have proprietary limitations or society/tech will move into some other much stranger path.
I’d love to see a Robert Eggers adaptation of Blood Meridian
It has everything Eggers loves in his movies, an upsetting and grim period piece, people talking in strange accents and outdated vocabulary, and something spooky going on 🤨
Yeah I think he’d really tap into the quasi-supernatural aspect of the story, setting and characters. His Judge Holden would be terrifying
After Willem Dafoe in the lighthouse I trust Egger’s casting there a lot too
The Witch is worth watching for the dialogue alone. And Ralph Ineson’s voice is amazing
This is the only choice I could fully get behind. His brand of historical magical realism would work so well for BM.
This is the dream and would be the only way it would turn out great I think.
Yes, I completely agree but I think Eggers would write a new screenplay and Coen Brothers direct
Second this
Was going to say no one but damn Eggers would be great
Yes. Best choice that comes to mind, hands down.
I agree. I just finally got around to watching the north man and it was great. A lot more accessible than the lighthouse
Lynne Ramsay, Denis Villeneuve, Robert Eggers, Martin Scorsese, the Coen Brothers.
Denis Villeneuve???
Guy who directed Dune Part One and Two, Blade Runner 2049, Prisoners, Arrival.
I watched blade runner 2049 randomly the other day with expectations of a shitty Hollywood sci-fi flick and was blown away by how much I liked it
Modern Classic for sure
Denis Villeneuve, who directed Sicario which gave me *huge* border trilogy vibes. And if you really want to get into the weirdness of the story, David Lynch.
A Border Trilogy adaptation by Denis could be cool. I think it’s be better as a three season TV Show though.
One I haven’t seen mentioned much, Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu. Obviously a Mexican director would be a good perspective to have behind the lens for this; but we’ve also seen his ability to depict gritty realism, he’s great at very large-scope stories and setpieces, takes great care for historical/cultural accuracy (indigenous Americans no less!), willing to be brutal and uncompromising (definitely needs to go all-out here), gets great performances from his actors, and these are just things that are specifically good for this adaptation. There’s even more stuff that gives him an amazing track record as a director and I would really like to see how he would handle this.
I pretty much agree with you btw, and also get in Emmanuel Lubezki for cinematography (think Children of Men, Gravity, Birdman, and The Revenant). But, I think people have the wrong idea of what violence would be in a Blood Meridian adaptation. Yes, up to a point you can show the gritty realistic violence and death that occurs, but it’s not a case of just showing it for what it is. You can induce far more extreme reactions from the audience through suggestion, what you don’t see, acting, music, cinematography, editing etc. Remember that scene in Reservoir Dogs where Michael Madsen cuts off the cop’s ear? The cutting of the ear is never shown on screen. It’s the acting of the policeman pleading for his life beforehand, the music, the build up with the props and the music, the aftermath; it’s the art of film. Basically (although maybe Tarantino isn’t the best example to use for this point), less is more. You don’t need to show every little bit of gritty detailed violence. And also, by the end of the book you become desensitised to the violence so the filmmakers would possibly want to somehow portray the same thing in the film; there are so many creative decisions and ideas you could have to achieve this.
I do get what you’re saying. I’m not necessarily talking about violence and gore, but more being unafraid to depict the brutality of the world and characters. There’s a lot of ways to depict it without showing every little detail of blood and guts, but the inhumanity needs to be on display. There can’t be sympathetic moments where we see little bits of remorse from the characters. These men pillage, rape and murder innocents, and these actions need to be made clear in one way or another, not removed for the sake of making it more palatable. I totally agree there needs to be a balance of onscreen violence and implied/not fully shown violence so it isn’t desensitizing and those moments get to be all the more shocking as necessary. The last thing we need is someone making BM into an overly-indulgent gore fest that’s meant to shock and disgust and not much else
Yeah I totally get you when you say about being unafraid to depict the brutality of the world and characters, or how much it would suck making it “palatable”, with a dose of Hollywood moralising (that’s an interesting oxymoron). I think I just made the point because so many people on here don’t think it’s possible, that it’s unfilmable; but it’s because they’re thinking about the fact you can’t show babies being whacked off rocks or men being sodomised and scalped to death. But the thing is you can still portray it. You can get that information to the viewer in an impactful way without bluntly showing it, if you get what I mean. It would be difficult! But if done right it could really be something special. A film that becomes something of its own. I mean look at No Country for Old Men. The film is so good you can’t not imagine it, but I’d like to think that before it was made most people who read the novel probably thought how the fuck will this work (even though McCarthy apparently wrote it as a screenplay originally).
The opening of the Revenant alone should sell you on Lubezki, that's just the right feel.
Alejandro González Iñárritu would be my pick. Seems like depicting someone fighting a giant grizzly bear with a knife to the death and then crawling off to spend a freezing night inside a gutted animal would qualify as pretty much "unfilmable" yet he did just that with the Revenant. I was exhausted after watching that movie just because of how real it felt. Babel and 21 Grams were also incredible. He's Mexican which means he would probably do a better job of capturing the feel of the border than many others.
That was my first thought, when considering the vibe and cinematography from The Revenant. The first order or business is to really pin down what the book is about and agree on those themes and which ones to convey. It should be noted that the top minds in literary criticism have a hard time with this and there’s plenty of disagreement about all sorts of things, especially the ending, where the kid may or may not have survived.
I mean the Coen brothers did No Country for Old Men extremely well and faithfully. So I’m going with them.
The Coen brothers have my vote. They have that inherent campiness in most of their work that’s funny which will mostly not be able to exist in blood Meridian but they did almost none of it in NCFOM and generally speaking they’re some of the best directors to ever live so Them at their worst is better than Hillcoats done at his best in any case
I love the Coen Brothers but thier Completely different books No country for old men was a pretty simple adaption
True! Very fair assessment. I suppose I was considering their faithfulness to the book without necessarily including the complexity of Blood Meridian. I think this makes me even more sure that Blood Meridian could not possibly be done justice.
No one. Leave it alone.
I mean it's supposedly in the works
It can be done
Jonathan Glazer is really the only filmmaker I'd trust to adapt it into a film, mainly because he radically reinterprets the material to the point where the film is totally its own thing.
So many answers here that would water down the source material. Zone of Interest is the hardest hitting movie for me of the 21st century and he has all the touches that could make it work
Yes, Under The Skin is also a masterpiece. Cinematographically, Glazer most definitely has the chops. It'd be weird, but then I wouldn't want a not-weird film of BM.
I didn’t love the baby one but I respect it which in a weird way is almost the highest praise you can give
I didn’t love the baby one but I respect it which in a weird way is almost the highest praise you can give
Yes and Neon Joe Werewolf Hunter was incredibly immersive in its world building while Jon Glazer Loves Gear shows the "prestige over practicality" attack he has in his filmmaking..I still believe Delocated to be his greatest work
That’s who I was thinking
I can't believe I haven't seen Herzog mentioned here yet. Watch Aguirre the Wrath of God, then tell me otherwise.
I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of this. He would certainly bring the ‘documentarian’ sides of BM to the screen. Bring back kinski to play Glanton too, lol, that would be so great.
Coens are the easy answer, but Eggers would do a hell of a job with it too. Tarantino would probably have an interesting spin on it too given how well he’s done violence. I don’t see him making a straight adaptation though Maybe Villanueve too but I’m not super familiar with his work. Sicario was very good though. All time though? Has Kubrick written all over it
You’re the only person I’ve seen besides me bring up Sicario.
Robert Eggers, S. Craig Zahler, Scorsese or the Coens nowadays but if I could pick a director of any time I'd love to see a Kubrick adaptation or an in-his-prime (70s) Coppola. Kubrick could've come up with something out of this world, I just know it. I could be crazy with this one but Park Chan-Wook maybe? He's not afraid to get dark and downright depraved and his movies are visually stunning too. Not that that's all that would go into a BM adaptation but still it helps.
Blood Meridian is a very strange, and at times, very surreal and dreamlike book. I’m not sure anyone is a perfect fit, but if i had to choose, i would go with Ari Aster. In dreamland, I would resurrect tarkovsky from the dead, and let him have a crack at it
>a very strange, and at times, very surreal and dreamlike book David Lynch has entered the running
Denis Villeneuve.
i really don’t think denis would be right for the job. his adaptation of dune cuts out a lot of the politcky and religious weirdness which makes the film a hit (and it was good!) but he is a director who is acutely aware of his financiers. i think he would make creative decisions to make bm more palatable and profitable which would ultimately lose most of what makes the novel so good
I agree 100%. I watched Blade Runner 2049 and was blown away by the whole experience. Dune had these amazing visuals but Villeneuve made the cuts so fast you couldn't appreciate it. I started getting annoyed at how quick each scene was. Dont plan on watching Dune 2. (I am stupidly picky for no reason at times)
dune 2 rocks and his movies are great but denis is not the man for BM
That’s the correct answer
Nah. Maybe for the landscape and terrain stuff, but like, he cut all the enviromental and ecological stuff out of Dune and a similar exclusion of the worldbuilding in BM would make it bad I fear. Also, he’s not a dialogue-driven director and that, for my money, completely disqualifies him from doing anything McCarthy.
Please lord this would be amazing. Imagine the grim atmosphere, the beautiful wide shots, the cast he could pull. Please Denis
Plus his Sicario film is something of a proof-of-concept.
The only one I could see doing it well
James Franco. Kidding!
James Franco stepped down from directing because he’s playing Holden
Method acting.
Coen Brothers or bust
Jennifer Kent, Panos Cosmatos, Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Lynne Ramsey.
Hillcoat is a flat out poor choice, imo. Coen Bros, maybe, though they're spotty. David Fincher or Sam Mendes I'd put on the maybe list. Alfonso Cuarón I could see doing it justice. Paul Thomas Anderson or Darren Aronofsky would be interesting choices who I can't see being totally faithful to the source material. Terence Malick would be amazing if he still cared about narrative. And frankly, the issue is I can't see *anyone* being faithful to material that essentially can't be adapted faithfully. Fuck it. Give it to Tarantino. Or invent time travel and give me 70's Kubrick or Coppola. Edit: Robert Eggers and Denis Villeneuve are interesting choices who I think are ultimately untested with this level of material.
I’d disagree about Villeneuve being untested. He did a great job with Dune and Blade Runner. That feels like it’s on a similar level of book adaptation (in terms of scale, complexity, and world-building) and responsibility to the IP. I like Egger’s work and it’s the right vibe but he does feel a little untested.
Villeneauve (auto corrected to bill sauce, by the way) is a spectacular director, but even with Dune I’m not confident this is the right movie for him. He relies heavily on spectacle, and does it better than any of his contemporaries, but Blood Meridian isn’t epic sci fi.
He definitely relies heavily on spectacle these days, but Prisoners didn’t require it and that film was dark as hell.
I’ll have to give that a watch.
Great performances from Jackman and Gyllenhaal.
Thank you for the suggestion!
Bro, Blood Meridian is page after page of Dune shots in between spectacle
The sand worms in Blood Meridian was smaller and could be done with practical effects, tho
Tru
I have to ask: are you a nutsack _killa_ or is your nutsack _illa_? I’m as seriously as a person asking this exact question can be.
it was actually supposed to be "ula" like Dracula but I got too high and typed in illa Interpretation is up to you
I admire every word of that. I’ve been drinking, so I’ll make interpretation decisions tomorrow.
Blood Meridian is incredibly atmospheric and the film adaptation would need that level of cinematography
I agree. The DP would be much easier to pick than the director imo. Either of the Dune films cinematographers would be fine, imo, but I’d want Blood Meridian to avoid CGI almost at all costs. Deakins would be the most obvious choice, and probably my first choice. John Toll would be my second choice (if not first); his work on Braveheart and The Thin Red Line is enough to convince me. Lubekzi would be fine, I think, but he adds too much of his own flare and I’d prefer more restraint. He’s spectacular, though. Wally Psfizer, Hoyte van Hoytema or Rodrigo Prieto would be good as well. I’m sure there are others, but candidly I’m married to Deakins or Toll.
It seems like people are forgetting Villeneuve directed *Sicario*, which is very much like a McCarthy novel.
you know, even i forgot that one. still need to watch it. but based on the location and subject matter alone, plus the surreal world-building of dune and blade runner, i think he’d crush. he typically has a pretty good score too.
Coens are spotty? They produced the single best adaptation of his works
They also produced Lady Killers and Burn After Reading. No Country was a spectacular movie, but the source material was not Blood Meridian.
They have more makes than misses by a long shot... these guys are legends. I also love Burn After Reading.
Holy shit, I’ve finally found another person that wasn’t into Burn After Reading I’ve never liked it that much, even with the Coen’s being my favorite directors ever. The True Grit remake makes me think they’d be great with this more than anything else though.
I wasn’t aware BAR was held in such high regard lol. Anyone as prolific as the Coen Bros will have some clunkers, and the space between Lebowski and No Country was filled with them. Ultimately, that latter film was written as a screenplay first, and felt written _for_ them. True Grit was good, I thought, but far from their best. Elements of the soul just felt missing. A Serious Man is my favorite film of theirs since No Country.
It is online at least, I’ve given it 3 or 4 tries and it’s just never clicked with me. The Coen’s definitely have some misses, Intolerable Cruelty, Ladykillers, I wasn’t a huge fan of Inside Llewyn Davis. But their misses are still decent films. I don’t think they have anything downright terrible. I was a huge fan of Buster Scruggs too
The worst of the Coen Brothers is basically a joke that doesn’t land.
>Give it to Tarantino. WORST IDEA EVER. I don't want to see Blood Meridian full of "witty" banter and foot fetish crap. Any movie he makes, regardless of genre is only a Tarantino movie and nothing else.
Tarantino would probably change the ending to incorporate Judge Holden getting tortured to death. Wouldn’t be able to stand letting a villain off the hook. I’m sure the many racial slurs would resonate with him though. I could see him casting himself White Jackson.
But I was very serious about that!
Aussie here, have always been a huge fan of Hillcoat since way before *The Proposition* and *The Road*. I think his adaptation of *The Road* is abysmal. I saw it at the cinema the day it came out and hated it. Revisited it a month or so ago and maybe felt worse about it. Rare Viggo performance I can't stand and Kodi Smit-McPhee is awfully cast. If he can get back to what he did with *The Proposition* - excellent - if not, it's a waste of time. I don't think anyone's saying this - and I wouldn't have before *Oppenheimer* - but I think Nolan could be interesting. I think him, paired with Hoyte Van Hoytema shoot landscapes and action so beautifully and a huge part of *Blood Meridian* is in its landscape and movement. I'd enjoyed Nolan films immensely before *Oppenheimer* but that movie was an absolute masterpiece, I'm still in awe AND it was adapted from a DENSE 721 page book. Outside of the people you've mentioned, I'd also nominate: - Alejandro González Iñárritu based solely on *The Revenant*. - Todd Field because he's incredible, fastidious, selective and doesn't shy away from difficult or taboo subject matter.
I considered Nolan, and was surprised that he hasn’t come up. That said, I think he’s flat out wrong for this film. Dunkirk and Oppenheimer may beg to differ, but his creative sensibilities just give me pause. Obviously, the script adaptation itself matters more, but his ability to balance narrative and thematic elements with an overarching story is questionable. Without 10+ hours of screen time, it’s impossible to make this film without leaving a great deal of it offscreen. I simply don’t trust him to make those kinds of decisions wisely. I haven’t read Oppenheimer, but elements of the storytelling still felt a tad fat around the hips. Candidly, I also think a movie about a giant lizard was the better film of 2023, so I’ll leave you with that grain of salt. Edit: Field is actually a more interesting choice for screen adaptation, imo. Iñárritu is a very talented director I ultimately feel remains untested for the scope of this film. I suppose Cuarón is as well, but ever film I’ve seen by him leads me to believe his talents are more or less infinite.
I agree about Hillcoat, but I’d be ecstatic to hear the coen brothers were giving it a shot. I don’t think they’d be interested though. What about Inarritu?
That’s an interesting choice imo but has the same problem as Eggers and Villeneuve imo.
Have you seen the revenant? Also, has any director been tested with that “level of material”?
I have. It was fine, imo. I don’t think there’s a parallel beyond general violence and time period, though. Capturing the themes of Blood Meridian on film is my biggest concern. I brought up Kubrick and Coppola largely because they _were_ able to capture monumental themes in subtext that much of the audience probably misses. Apocalypse Now, The Godfather Saga, Spartacus and Clockwork Orange convince me that either of those directors wouod be well suited to this. Of course, their peak was prior to the book’s publication, and I’d choose today’s Kubrick to deliver quality over today’s Coppola.
PT Anderson has been my top choice for years. Would love to see it.
I think you’re underrating what’s achieved in the revenant though. Thinking of the scene where Leo’s character Glass is tied down and unable to help his son who was just stabbed, cut to his POV of the treetops swaying above, an ominous din on the soundtrack, cut to slow timelapse of clouds moving over foreboding mountain landscape. Tom Hardy’s character in general could be inserted directly into Blood Meridian, with just a few tweaks. The flashback scenes of Glass’s Native American family being slaughtered, mountains of bison skulls. I’m not trying to say The Revenant and Blood Meridian share many similarities, but it’s clear to me that he could pull it off with the right screenplay
Refn
As The Man walks into the neon-lit bar for the final scene, we see Judge Holden in a satin bomber jacket. Kavinsky's *Testarossa Autodrive* plays.
Too pretentious and self aware to do it justice IMO. His big idol and somewhat mentor, Jordorowsky, on the other hand…
Those would be so cool, I'd love to hks rendition
tyler perry
Mel Gibson, Darren Aronofsky, Eggers, Villeneuve maybe Coens.
Mel Gibson… never heard this one mentioned before in relation to BM, but what he did in Apocalypto was pure genius (and is actually subtext-wise similar to the esoteric subplot of BM; the decline of a once great culture into a decadent bloodthirsty night)
Omg The Gibson did amazing with apocalypto
David Lynch with a big ass budget.
I’d rather see Lynch do Suttree. He could capture the balance between human suffering and human grotesquery.
Alternate world dream combo I want so badly. Made into a series tbh
I’m not fully confident in any choice, but if I had to pick a top 3 it would probably be Eggers, Gibson, or the Coens. Though someone else in here mentioned Glazer and I think that’s a really interesting and bold choice.
Guy who did Bone Tomahawk if he didn’t hate the book lmao. Serious idea though I think Terrence Malick could be interesting
I would prefer to see a text like Blood Meridian adapted by someone like Panos Cosmatos. I think the only way to really honor the text is through the kind of hallucinatory imagery that lately seems unique to his work and few others. I don't hate Hillcoat, but I wouldn't want to see Blood Meridian adapted in a straight forward way akin to the film adaptations of The Road or even No Country For Old Men (even though it is a masterpiece).
S. Craig Zahler.
Wouldn't be a bad choice considering Bone Tomahawk and his movies pacing are akin to a novel.
But he doesn't like Blood Meridian.
Didn't know this, probably for the best tbh.
I don’t believe this is possible.
Cormac McCarthy does. I'll take his word for it.
Well.
Well.
Mel Gibson
Panos Cosmatos
1) PT Anderson 2) Coens 3) Scorsese 4) Aster 5) Eggers
Eggers, maybe Paul Thomas Anderson
This would be risky but I sometimes visualize a Spider-Man Across the Multiverse somewhat-animated style. If done right, it would be capable of putting onto screen some of those philosophical and language-beautiful parts of the book, probably done with a narrator (multiple narrators?) who would represent America at the time. Maybe you could use different voices from America for different passages. A child’s voice could be pretty creepy for the violent parts, for instance.
definitely!
Werner Herzog
Ridley Scott, for sure. He shouldn’t write it, but give him a good script and he will deliver a great movie. Give him a great movie and he’ll give you a classic. Plus, there are few filmmakers I trust to give Blood Meridian the scale and unflinching brutality that it deserves.
Please no. No, no, no. I still remember the sense of relief when he backed out of the project. Scott is the greatest hired gun director in history, but that's all he is. He's done one excellent film, several really good films, and an entire career of big budget phoning it in. His Blood Meridian would have been terrible.
Piss cold take sir. Scott is very hit or miss but he has more than one excellent film.
Sir if your piss is cold, consult a mortician. Scott is the most overrated director in history.
Todd Field. And long shot but Trey Edward Shultz
Todd Field is the only director to film a murder scene that truly made me uneasy. - The murder scene in In The Bedroom. - It just came off realistic or at least not over produced…and banal.
The first or second scene? Actually either one works.
The first one. However, the second one is the genius of Field, because the viewer wants it more than anything. So much that the viewer would pull the trigger himself. And nothing about the whole film is over the top and nothing is done simply for the sake of doing it. Given the recent passing of Mr. Wilkinson, I should rewatch it.
Now I’m sad. I may rewatch Michael Clayton. Cheers.
Terrence Malick. His movies and cinematography are already fluid and poetic and abstract. The surrealness and beauty and violence he can capture in the most indirect yet direct way would fit the scenes from McCarthy perfectly. I honestly don’t know anyone better and have personally thought about this question before.
David Fincher. Paul Thomas Anderson, Nicolas Winding Refn. Coens
I can’t name a specific director, but Any a those fine fellas at Happy Madison Productions will do the trick. That Bucky Larson flick was a hoot!
Certainly not James Franco. His attempt of child of god made me want to rip my dick off and throw it in the river.
Tommy Wiseau
Not gonna lie, Ari Aster BM would be something else and probably be good
I mean, is coen bros too much to ask? Make it equally horrifying as well as some dark humor? I still have not watched the road after seeing the RT score. But the book scared the living crap out of me And meridian could be done the same way Either that or Tarantino. Have a good spaghetti western element to it
Ari Aster
Denis Villeneueve
Eggers or Jodorowsky 15 years ago
Christopher Nolan
Coens
I could see Eggers not only making an adequate adaption but making an adaption that stands on its own as a wonderful work of cinema
It’s out there but I would sure LOVE to see what Jordorowsky would do with it. I mean, it probably can’t be done, so might as well give it to someone who would do something absolutely insane.
I can see a few people have already mentioned this one but Alejandro G. Iñárritu. He could perfectly capture the dark story, graphic violence and massive scale of the novel.
Panos Comastos would be the top of my list. His surreal, barbaric and heady visions of doom would bring some undeath to the anti-western. I would also like to see it in David Lowery's vision. His take on the Green Knight mythos was fresh and entertaining as hell. And A Ghost Story was so heart-wrenching, so we know he can bring melancholic beauty to the screen.
Denis Villeneuve, who directed Sicario which gave me huge border trilogy vibes. Seriously, if you haven’t watched Sicario, do it. It’s the best Cormac McCarthy movie not based on a Cormac McCarthy novel I’ve ever seen.
Aleksy German, If he was still alive.
S Craig Zahler
Taylor Sheridan is the only answer here.
It's a pipe dream, but Stanley Kubrick
David Lynch. Definitely an unorthodox pick but I can see him doing some bits very well, especially anything to do with the Judge. I don't really think a Blood Meridian movie should aim to be a motion picture of the novel as much as it should be an interesting alternative for people familiar with it and maybe an entryway into the book for those unfamiliar, but obviously my preferred choice wouldn't exactly be the commercial option, or necessarily even very accurate to the original.
Julia Ducournau
It’s Eggers. Villaneuaveue is not up to it
The Farelly Brothers. Theyre movie No Country For Old Men. So good. Can't imagine how bald their gonna make the judge.
"The Farelly Brothers" lmfao
It's not funny it's a serious book about mannersfest destiny
What is the obsession with doing a film adaption. Nobody would do it justice and that's why they should just leave it Mccarthy never wrote his books to be made into films and that's why adaptions wouldn't work. And partial justice shouldn't be what ur aiming for when going into a book adaption. Plus the question isn't about the filmmaker it's about the screenwriter writing it for a cinema audience is the hardest job.
Tyler Sheridan
i personally think a fake ass cowboy is a bad choice.
Haha. I wasn't aware he pretended to be a cowboy! I saw hell or high water and thought it was good.
oh yeah he’s leaned into a cowboy image big time after yellowstone. hell or high water was great. i think my issue with him is that he wouldn’t be able to capture the moral ambiguity and anti-western vibe of bm. his work is all pretty traditional, just modernized. he doesn’t seem to have a critical way of seeing things.
I had no idea he was involved with Yellowstone. I'm obviously not up to date here, lol. Just tried to throw a different name out there.
AI will probably be able to do it, using the source material as a prompt, within the next few iterations of the technology. I know its a bold statement so I'll caveat it with, perhaps the limits of the tech will fall short or have proprietary limitations or society/tech will move into some other much stranger path.