The Hollywood Reporter today catches us up on the status of Blink, the long-in-development adaptation of Malcolm Gladwell's best-seller about the how and why people make snap decisions. A lot has happened since the rights went Hollywood four years ago with filmmaker Stephen Gaghan, who'd planned to co-write with Gladwell: Universal dropped it, William Morris independent picked it up, and recently Al Pacino is said to have come aboard. But while the producers go budget-shopping in Cannes, a lot might ride on Pacino's young co-star -- and "you'd be surprised at the tween appeal of some on the list," reports THR. Who could it be?
Gaghan and Gladwell have apparently fashioned a story out of the book's intellectual nonfiction premise: Pacino would play an older Wall Street veteran who reconnects with his estranged son, an "idealistic drifter" currently teaching in a New York school. When Pops discovers the young man's talent for quick, smart decisions and first impressions, he hauls him off to the finance district to see how they might monetize his skill. THR's Steven Zeitchik relates the plot to Scent of a Woman, but really, any permutation of the Pacino-mentor subgenre (The Recruit, Donnie Brasco, etc.) could likely apply.
But "tween appeal"? Whose fine, soft flesh could withstand the melting heat of a Pacino broadside? Whose killer smile hides a killer instinct? Who even looks like he could be Pacino's son? Robert Pattinson's got the hair. Zac Efron's got the screen presence. Underdog Michael Cera has the cerebral chops. Joe Jonas has the... forget it. My inner casting director is having trouble reconciling any young heartthrob with the aging legend, let alone with Gladwell's complex metaphysics. Thoughts, dear reader? All the money men in Cannes are waiting for you.
ยท In Blink, Al Pacino may smell the scent of Malcolm Gladwell [THR]