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Robert Zemeckis May Take Over Directing the 'Barefoot Bandit' Film

by Alex Billington
August 6, 2012
Source: THR

Finally, the long-awaited (live-action) return of Robert Zemeckis is nigh. He's going from one Flight to another Flight, taking over the reigns of Taking Flight, the Barefoot Bandit movie in the works at Fox. THR broke the news, stating that while David Gordon Green was attached, he has since moved on to take on the Suspiria remake head-on, leaving the spot open for Robert Zemeckis to step in and take over. He will now "develop the project as a potential directing vehicle" (he's not confirmed yet), with the script currently being revised by Oscar winner and Milk, Virginia, J. Edgar writer Dustin Lance Black. More details below!

We've been following development on this project for a few years, as 20th Century Fox picked up the rights to Colton Harris-Moore's life story as the "Barefoot Bandit" back in 2011, right after he had actually been caught. The project has been developing on its own in the meantime, and it seemed like David Gordon Green started to build up so many other things to work on, it was better to leave this in the hands of someone like Zemeckis anyway. Speaking of Zemeckis, he is in the midst of finishing his first live-action movie in nearly 12 years, titled Flight with Denzel Washington, which seems to be the perfect segue from his CGI animation past back into live-action and eventually to tell this story of Harris-Moore. It should be fun.

Taking Flight, the title of this "true story" based on the book Taking Flight: The Hunt for a Young Outlaw, centers on 18-year-old Colton Harris-Moore, who became a cult hero for a string of crimes that baffled local police, Homeland Security and the FBI. In the early 2000s, Colton went on a series of illegal escapades, stealing cars, boats and even planes from the rich. He was caught by the FBI in July 2010. I've been quite anxious to see this project come together, as it has an air of Catch Me If You Can, and I'm very excited to see Zemeckis considering directing it. I think it would be the perfect follow-up to Flight if Zemeckis goes for it.

Filed under Development, Movie News

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