John Hillcoat's 'The Promised Land' Has "Fallen Apart"

By our guest blogger, Matt Jussim

2010 has gotten off to a rocky start for director John Hillcoat (“The Road”). The Australian director has been keeping a cinematic diary for "The Road" over at the Telegraph, and in an epilogue, Hillcoat revealed that his upcoming project "has fallen apart."

The project in question is “The Wettest County in the World,” which had since changed its title to “The Promised Land.” The depression-era crime-drama was set to shoot in February.

According to the Telegraph, Hillcoat wrote: "My own new project--with a much-loved script by Nick Cave and a dream all-star cast--has fallen apart. The finance company that we began "The Road" with has also fallen apart, having to radically downsize to one remaining staff member. The great divide has begun, with only very low-budget films being made or huge 3-D franchise films--the birth of brand films such as "Barbie," "Monopoly: The Movie"--who knows what's next, "Coca-Cola: The Movie"?"

The Playlist also reported that the project had such names as Shia Labeouf, Ryan Gosling, Scarlett Johansson, Paul Dano, Amy Adams and Michael Shannon attracted to it. According to the site: “We reviewed the script last November and described Nick Cave's story as remarkable, vivid and tactile."

It must be devastating to Hillcoat that the project fell apart, especially with such talented names circling the film, but Hollywood can be strange at times. Regrettably, there isn’t always enough money to go around when it comes to funding independent films as opposed to more mainstream features.

I’m hoping that the filmmakers can turn things around and Hillcoat’s project sees the light of day sometime soon.