J.J. Abrams is no stranger to bringing us great adaptations of Stephen King novels. His production company Bad Robot has brought us 11/22/63 and Castle Rock – both of which were made for HULU and Lisey’s Story which was adapted for Apple TV +.
So, we know that this latest adaptation of King’s tale BILLY SUMMERS is in good hands – but – you add in APPIAN WAY, which is Leonardo DiCaprio’s production wing – well, we might just be set up for something truly epic.
It’s possible, although nowhere near confirmed that Abrams could end up directing with DiCaprio playing the lead character – Billy Summers. BILLY SUMMERS is a great tale and although horrific things do occur, this is not your typical Stephen King horror story.
Deadline sums the story up as follows:
“Billy Summers is a hitman who is looking to retire and takes one last highly lucrative job to feather his nest. The job requires him to embed himself in a quiet town, where he pretends to be an aspiring writer (he actually pours himself into the prose). He sets up in an office with a direct view of where hitman Joel Allen will be delivered to face trial for shooting two men during a poker game. Allen also has committed enough murders for some high-level mobsters to be scared the gunman will incriminate his former employers to lessen his sentence. Summers, a meticulous craftsman, becomes more and more cynical about the mobsters who’ve hired him, and his skepticism is well warranted as things go awry following the job’s completion.”
The only other news we have right now is that Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz have been brought on board to write the screenplay.
Keeping a close eye – and will update as this one progresses.
