Trailer Park: "On The Road" Attempts To Give Life To Kerouac‘s Unfilmable Novel

But will it succeed?

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Complex Original

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Despite being one of the defining literary works of the Beat Generation, a big screen adaptation of Jack Kerouac‘s On the Road has been in development hell in Hollywood for decades. Filmmakers and studios could just never find a way to bring the groundbreaking prose that he effortlessly weaved into the American consciousness to theaters. But now director Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries) is finally getting the project off the ground with stars Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund, and Kristen Stewart.

In the past, thespians like Marlon Brando and Brad Pitt have been attached to this adaptation, so to see names like Hedlund and Stewart on this version is definitely a little disappointing. However, their performances all look pretty on-point during this trailer. It remains to be seen, though, if everything can jell together in the end to capture the feelings of youthful indiscretion and discovery from the book.

We're not going to lie: this movie has a lot working against it. But just the fact that it's about to see the light of day is an impressive feat. We just caution against thinking that this film will be as transcendent as Kerouac‘s original work.

On the Road will hit theaters on September 21 in the U.K. and December 21 in the U.S.

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