Vulture passes along word that Bobin (The Muppets, Flight of the Conchords) and Johnston (Cedar Rapids) are developing the adaptation with Rudin and Paramount, the latter of whom have seen more talent come and go through the project's revolving door than virtually any other unproduced film in a generation. Galifianakis would play Ignatius J. Reilly, the corpulent antihero of Toole's posthumous, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, whose exploits around New Orleans and in his home life with his mother (and the ongoing internal dialogue and wild local character tying it all together) have made for canonical reading over the years — even while succumbing to what many of its Hollywood pursuers have written off as a curse. Suicide, murder, overdoses, hurricanes and general studio ennui are among the obstacles to have faced Confederacy's leap to the big screen over the years — not least because Paramount execs likely hear the title and argue, "Didn't we make three of those with Michael Bay?"
Anyway, it bears repeating that despite everyone's best intentions and all those Louisiana tax incentives and the cautious optimism of Toole's devoted fan base, not only will this movie never get made, but there's not even a script yet. First things first! And when all else fails, consider Reilly's gold-plated lament as we move on to something... safer: "Apparently I lack some particular perversion which today's employer is seeking."
[Vulture]