By Despite it being mired in production hell for years, I’m still pretty excited for the upcoming adaptaion of The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson, as I went into in detail when we posted the film’s trailer. The film’s official poster has been released, and it is a sufficiently boozy affair. It’s a cool poster, and all, but I’m a little worried that the film might take the usual stance of people badly understanding Thompson’s work as “Hey, look at these dudes get f***ed up on drugs and booze and stuff! Isn’t it funny?” Yeah, it’s Hollywood marketing, so they gotta push the crap like that, but here’s hoping all of the political rage from the book makes it’s way to the actual film.
The film’s official synopsis was also released, which I’ve stuck below the fold. It gives me a little more hope for the film, but it is basically just a re-written version of what you can see on the back of ANY of the book’s paperback releases.
[Via /Film]Tiring of the noise and madness of New York and the crushing conventions of late Eisenhower-era America, journalist Paul Kemp travels to the pristine island of Puerto Rico to write for a local newspaper, The San Juan Star, run by downtrodden editor Lotterman. Adopting the rum-soaked life of the island, Paul soon becomes obsessed with Chenault, the wildly attractive Connecticut-born fiancee of Sanderson. Sanderson, a businessman involved in shady property development deals, is one of a growing number of American entrepreneurs who are determined to convert Puerto Rico into a capitalist paradise in service of the wealthy. When Kemp is recruited by Sanderson to write favorably about his latest unsavory scheme, the journalist is presented with a choice: to use his words for the corrupt businessmen’s financial benefit, or use them to take the bastards down.