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Five New Photos from Cormac McCarthy's The Road

August 7, 2008
Source: USA Today
by Alex Billington

Five New Photos from Cormac McCarthy's The Road

This isn't officially the first time we've featured photos from The Road (that was back in May), but it is the first time we get an actual glimpse at how the bleak post-apocalyptic world of the film will tie into the heartwrenching story. John Hillcoat's adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road is becoming increasingly interesting as we near the release and start to hear more about the finer details of the production, which is living up to all of the hype so far. This latest update comes from USA Today and introduces six new photos featuring Viggo Mortensen and his on-screen son Kodi Smit-McPhee, as well as Michael K. Williams as the thief. Mortensen shares: "I think what's made this story so universally loved is because it's really about protecting your child, no matter what the circumstances. At its core, it's a love story."

If you're unfamiliar with the story, the book takes place in a burnt out American wasteland, not long after a nuclear winter has settled in. A father and his son, traveling with only the clothes they are wearing, a pistol for protection, and a cart of scavenged food, slowly make their way down a deserted road in an attempt to get to the coast. They don't know what they'll find there, but at this point, they've got nothing else but each other and the hope that they'll find something at the end that is keeping them alive.

Pittsburgh during the winter, as well as New Orleans and Mount St. Helens, served as the backdrop for most of the movie. Mortensen explains how visceral it was shooting on location. "It's tangible, the misery and hopelessness and the bleakness. It gives you much more to work with if you're filming in that world instead of a green screen. You have to bring a story to life in a movie in a way you don't have to in a book - even a book as powerful as that." You can see five new photos below.

Cormac McCarthy's The Road

Cormac McCarthy's The Road

Cormac McCarthy's The Road

Cormac McCarthy's The Road

Cormac McCarthy's The Road

The Road is directed by ex-music video director John Hillcoat, of The Proposition previously. The screenplay was adapted by Joe Penhall, of Some Voices, Enduring Love, and The Undertaker previously, and is based on Cormac McCarthy's novel of the same name first published in 2006. MGM is debuting The Road in theaters nationwide on Thanksgiving weekend, November 26th.

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Reader Feedback - 38 Comments »

1

Just finished the book and these photos look great, Viggo is one of my favs!

Duffc on Aug 7, 2008

2

Can you tell me who did your layout? I've been looking for one kind of like yours. Thank you.

Rick Boyer on Aug 7, 2008

3

This looks so fucking good.

StabmasterArson on Aug 7, 2008

4

either way,people will complain about the film being a departure from the book.because the book was simply too complex,im sure people will want to see some sort of serene love story but it looks like the people being undead part is made a major part of the story whereas in the book it was simply some sort of outline to the father/child plot.

twispious on Aug 7, 2008

5

Very exciting! The book is fantastic even though it is an exhausting read. If they capture even a small part of the emotion of the book they will have a really great movie. I was hoping Tom Hanks would play the lead, the ability to show despair and hopelessness that he used in Cast Away would have been a huge asset in this movie. But I think Viggo was a great choice as well. And since The Proposition is one of my favorite movies ever, I'm excited to see John Hillcoat directing.

This might wind up being as wonderful as No Country!

Joel on Aug 7, 2008

6

i agree with no.5. it would probably end up better than no country.

Darrin on Aug 7, 2008

7

So i'm not sure to be happy or insulted to know that the bleak, apocalypse winter scenes were shot in Pittsburgh…
they must have needed a bridge. yeah, thats it. a bridge. where else are there bridges other than pittsburgh? :P

photos are sweet though. maybe i'll find time to read the book.

dave13 on Aug 7, 2008

8

I enjoyed every minute of reading this book.

I hope the movie will do the same for me.

Chasw on Aug 7, 2008

9

man I wanna see this so bad, then I want to read the book, that way I don't get let down by the movie and still get even more enjoyment from the book.

Richard on Aug 7, 2008

10

I know nothing about the story but Omar (Michael Williams) better woop some ass

Tom on Aug 7, 2008

11

This is one of my favorite books and with Viggo in it I'm really looking forward to seeing it.

Bridget on Aug 7, 2008

12

uhhhhhhhhhhhhh, isn't that 5 photos?

Nick Sears on Aug 7, 2008

13

The choice of Viggo M. is perfection, and will surely bring folks to the movie who might be turned off by the bleak story. I know that I had to take breaks after every few pages as I read the book, lest I be overwhelmed with heartbreak. Michael K. Williams is a powerhouse whose talents get squandered in the usual (non-Omar) thug roles, so this should be a great opportunity for him. No wonder he was sporting that grizzly old-man beard in Season 5 of The Wire.

shantiquax on Aug 7, 2008

14

This is my favorite McCarthy book. Hope it pulls from the book as well as NCFOM did

Mr. Pockets on Aug 7, 2008

15

This looks great! I recently read Blood Meridian, which propelled Mccarthy onto my list of favorite authors, and I am about to start All the Pretty Horses (maybe I'll watch the movie afterward). Cormac's genius lies in how he uses the english language itself, and I fear that could be lost in film adaptation, althugh i have yet to see or read no country for old men. Maybe those should be next on my to watch/ to read lists.

alex L on Aug 7, 2008

16

Probably shouldn't judge a film by a couple of great stills, but this looks awesome! Then again, I'm sure they could have gotten a handful of great stills from the Kevin Costner post-apocalyptic snoozefests Waterworld and The Postman. :P

I hate the title. First thing I think of when I hear "The Road" is the classic Tenacious D song.

kevjohn on Aug 7, 2008

17

this book sucked! it was way overhyped for me that i absolutely hated it. it was absolutely boring. i really hope this film adaption does justice to its not-so-deserved praise.

Matt Suhu on Aug 7, 2008

18

I used to love the post-apocalyptic genre, which started in the 50's/60's during
the cold war nuclear fear era. It has been well done many times (On The Beach, many TV
shows, Planet of the Apes, Mad Max movies), but has been overdone for a while (Steel Dawn?
Cherry 2000? (which I actually kinda like) Postman?). The Road (in book form) is such
a different take on it, not really focused on the usual post- apocalyptic motifs (ruined cities,
marauding gangs, mutants) as on the relationship of the man and his son and their struggle
to survive. It is the emotional content derived from this that makes the book. If the movie
can convey this,–and we know Viggo is an excellent actor–It'll be very worthwhile.

zubzwank on Aug 7, 2008

19

Looks good. I have a question though (didn't read the book), how big of a part does Theron have as the Wife????

Ryan on Aug 7, 2008

20

Ryan:
If the movie stays close to the book, she only appears in a few brief flashbacks.

Boxer on Aug 7, 2008

21

even though there just pictures this movie looks amazing.

Curtis on Aug 8, 2008

22

Looks great, Viggo never disappointed in his films.

breach on Aug 8, 2008

23

I can't wait to see this film! I agree with the folks who like Viggo M. as the guy, I think he'll be great!

@#4 - People being undead is a major part of the film? What?! I don't think so.

@ #17 - Respectfully, I disagree completely. This book was beautiful. One of those "can't put it down" reads for me. Maybe it's because I'm a father, maybe it's because I'm a fan of the genre, but I absolutely loved it.

Tony on Aug 14, 2008

24

Tony, you are correct. There are no "undead" in this story (at least not in the book, and better not
be in the movie!). There is no "supernatural" theme at all, including beings other than garden-variety humans, albeit in dehumanizing circumstances. THIS IS NOT IN ANY WAY A ZOMBIE OR VAMPIRE STORY.

zubzwank on Aug 14, 2008

25

because the book took me 5 hours to read,
a standard 2 hour movie will have to be culled.
well, at least a little bit.

for the movie, (not film…film is so last millennium)
the "wife" part will be expanded, or else she has 8 seconds.
that's the time ratio of book reading to "wife" references.

finally, there is no Resolution in the book. the fight goes on.
there is a Happy Ending because they get there. almost like
Moses who led his people to the Promised Land but he dies
before he gets there. well, the Bible is a best-selling book.

john of sparta on Aug 14, 2008

26

there is no happy ending…

hopefully EVERYONE will get to see this movie to remind us all of where we are now heading…
if done right - this movie will send a collective shiver down humanitie's spine because the book spares no punches…

An apocalyptic vision not necessarily caused by nuclear war, maybe we just run out of oil…

joshua stone on Aug 21, 2008

27

I just finished the book and these pictures are amazing. I really do hope that the movie can express some of the sutler emotions from the book. The novel was one of (f not the only) from memory that has almost bought me to tears.

Shane on Aug 22, 2008

28

I loved the book. I am bery happy that viggo will play in this movie. I am looking forward to see him in this role, but i am sure that he will not disappoint us.

chris on Aug 27, 2008

29

#25 ARE YOU GREEK? …YOU KNOW SPARTA…

chris on Aug 27, 2008

30

This book was a bore! Predictable and slow. If you liked it it means you have no reference to any real sci-fi, I could name ten books with a comparative plot with a better story, this story had no beginning or end.
A movie of this book would be as bad as No country for old men. Its like looking at a pollock painting and pretending you understand the meaning because the so called experts think its fascinating. GAG!

Brian Addonisio on Oct 16, 2008

31

Brian, if you think the "experts" think that Pollock paintings have "meaning," or if you stand there trying to "understand" them as if they were some kind of narrative, you have not only missed the boat but chances are you never even got near the dock in the first place. Next: "The Road" is not only not a science fiction novel, its plot is vastly different from other apocalyptic novels including Mad Max, Road Warrior, On the Beach, A Canticle for Leibowitz…you go right ahead and name them if you wish; they won't match up anyway. The main difference is in the encompassing deadness of the world, the depiction of a total nuclear winter. No other apocalyptics even come close to the sere bleakness of this one. It sounds to me like you're just a very conventional reader who needs some kind of easily encompassable payoff to make you like a book. Well, that's fine, you're entitled to your blinkered tastes. Unfortunately, you have projected, with supreme egotism, your own limited notion of what fiction should be as some kind of gold standard for evaluating literature. God knows there are plenty of books like that out there. Stick to them and don't bother trying to challenge yourself again.

Ricardo on Oct 22, 2008

32

Hay Ricardo,
Your a pompous ass just like the people of whom I wrote about, You said nothing, but you used a lot of words to express it. The reason I linked this book to science fiction is because the premise is taken from themes that has been around since "War Of The Worlds" written over a hundred years ago.
Nothing was poetic about this book.
The book started with a man an a boy walking nowhere to nowhere and had to avoid death at every turn because of the breakdown of society, thats the gist of it with nothing a simple minded person assumes would happen, so What did I miss?
Listen, I know people liked the book, my mother loved it, This isn't great American literature, it's just a boring short story (or what should have been a short story). I also understand that everyone has there own opinion of art, but when you throw a hand full of crap at a canvas maby it's not art but rather a shitty piece of cloth.

Brian Addonisio on Oct 23, 2008

33

a simple mind indeed.

gordon kohler on Oct 24, 2008

34

Brian,
Maybe your mom brought something to this that you didn't. I wouldn't've appreciated this when I was 20 or 30, but I loved it when reading it earlier this year. Anyway, we all have our opinions.

http://www.morningsun.net/homepage/x379969009/On-McCarthys-The-Road

Bobby Winters on Oct 26, 2008

35

Brian,
I certainly think you're entitled to your opinion, we all are, but to say "If you liked it it means you have no reference to any real sci-fi" is a little ridiculous, don't you think? I think that's a pretty outrageous claim.

I love sci-fi, all sorts of it, I have since I was a kid. I have a very comprehensive library of it, and a very solid understanding of it as a genre. I also loved this book and, despite your claim, those two things are NOT mutually exclusive.

I won't get too much into why I liked the book, it's probably not worth our time to discuss that here, but I will say that I think the answer to your question "What did I miss?" may be this: It sounds like you missed an incredible story about a father facing some of the most difficult things a father can face when trying to raise and protect a young boy. The dying planet, the decimation of society, these things are just backdrops to a really, really great story about a father and son.

Just my two cents.

Tony on Oct 28, 2008

36

To all Who Ripped me,
Maby I was too harsh on the book and expressed my thoughts to strongly without thinking them trough.
I've been reading Sci-Fi an watching just about every movie ever made in this genre since i was a young boy. with that said It's the zombie flicks that turn me on even the bad ones (and most of them are bad.)
Now bare with me… the leading storyline in a zombie flick is "How to stay Alive" not so much of the suspension of disbelief of how does a body move with no blood circulating or why it wants to eat human flesh. What would you do If the world that you knew was over and you had to survive without the knowledge of basic survival skills? What if their was a nuclear holocaust. and the plants and the animals died? what would you do?. This is the question in "The Road" pretty simple to me because I've studied that question for years.
The problem I have with "The Road" is this is a fair plot line but like "No country for old men"
McCarthy is lazy and lets the reader fill in the blanks, To me the blanks are Obvious and if I wanted to do his work I want the credit. Otherwise I read a book for entertanment and escapism but on the other hand I do like to use my imagination but not to write the rest of the story for him.
Sorry if I offended anyone.
Brian Addonisio

Brian Addonisio on Oct 30, 2008

37

I liked this book very much. It's one of those you read in a matter of hours; one of those books you find yourself thinking about often after you're done. My summary of the book would be, "Haunting, compelling, sad, bleak, frigid."

I'm pleased with Mortenson cast as the father, although while reading the book I pictured Clive Owen, to which I blame a recent viewing of "Children of Men." I knew the boy had to be a relative unknown (if you've read the book you might agree). The wife? Didn't at all have to be Theron, but, sure, why not? At the very least she'll add a little sunshine :)

At the very least I'll be interested in seeing how this adapts. However, I would warn people that this will NOT be the feel-good movie of the year.

Road Warrior on Nov 1, 2008

38

I just read the book in two sittings it was so great. The images seem true to McCarthy's vision. Viggo is a perfect cast. I can't wait to see it. If the movie is as good as the book, I don't see why it shouldn't win the oscar.

daniel on Nov 12, 2008

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