Sam Raimi Can Make a Dennis Lehane Adaptation Too
Sam Raimi has signed on to develop and direct a big screen adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s The Given Day for Columbia Pictures. Set in Boston at the end of the First World War, Dennis Lehane’s long awaited eighth novel tells the story of two families – one black and one white – swept up in a maelstrom of revolutionaries and anarchists; immigrants and ward bosses; Brahmins and “ordinary” citizens, all engaged in a battle for survival and power.
Beat cop Danny Coughlin, Boston Police department royalty and son of one of the city’s most beloved and powerful police captains, joins a burgeoning union movement and the hunt for violent radicals. Luther Laurence, on the run after a deadly confrontation with a crime boss in Tulsa, works for the Coughlin family, and tries desperately to find his way home to his pregnant wife.
Featuring the most influential figures of the day – Babe Ruth; Eugene O’Neill; leftist activist Jack Reed; NAACP founder W.E.B. Du Bois; Mitchell Palmer, Woodrow Wilson’s ruthless, red chasing attorney general; cunning Massachusetts governor Calvin Coolidge; and an ambitious, young Justice Department lawyer named John E. Hoover.
Coursing through some of the pivotal events of the time – including the Spanish Influenza epidemic and culminating in the Boston Polce strike of 1919 – The Given Day explores the crippling violence and irrepressible exuberance of a country at war with, and the thrall of, itself. As Danny Luther, and others around them struggle to define themselves in increasingly turbulent times, they gradually find family in one another, and together, ride a rising storm of hardship, deprivation, and hope that will change their lives.
Stewart O’Nan, author of Last Night at the Lobster, A Prayer for the Dying, and Snow Angels calls the new book “Rollicking, brawling, gritty, political, and always completely absorbing,” … “a rich and satisfying epic.” The Given Day will be published on September 23rd by HarperCollins.
Dennis Lehane adaptations have attracted A-list talent, and have lead to two Academy Award wins and five nominations. Clint Eastwood directed Mystic River in 2003, and Ben Affleck made his directing debut with Gone Baby Gone in 2007. Martin Scorsese is nearing the end of production on Shutter Island, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley and Michelle Williams.
source: Variety
Amber Benson Biography
Pretty blonde performer Amber Benson racked up numerous film and television credits before rising to fame on the popular supernatural series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”. Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Benson moved with her family to Los Angeles at age fourteen in 1991. By 1993 she had made the first of three “Jack Reed” TV-movies, “Jack Reed: Badge of Honor”, appearing as the daughter of the titular Chicago cop in this NBC entry as well as its 1994 and 1996 follow-ups. 1993 also saw the actress make her big-screen debut with featured roles in the teen thriller “The Crush” and Steven Soderbergh’s coming-of-age drama “King of the Hill”. Her relatively small but memorable parts in these very different features helped to launch the young performer’s career.
The following year she was featured in Anthony Drazan’s period drama “Imaginary Crimes” and had a pivotal supporting role in the social satire “S.F.W.”. Playing determined, pure-hearted and somewhat wise characters seemed to come easy to Benson, who brought a palpable intelligence to her powerful performances. She essayed the charmingly innocent daughter of divorced dad Randy Quaid in “Bye Bye, Love” (1995) and guest starred on an episode of the Fox series “Partners” the following year. Though her role as ‘Stoned Girl’ in the teen comedy “Can’t Hardly Wait” was drastically cut to earn a PG-13 rating, Benson soon became a familiar presence to the film’s target audience when she began appearing on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (The WB) the following year. Her 1999-2001 recurring role as the good witch who becomes more than just a friend to fellow enchantress Willow (Alyson Hannigan) saw the actress taking on controversial topics and earning the esteem of the notoriously hard-to-please “Buffy” fan base. When the series moved to UPN in 2001, Benson’s role was upgraded to that of a regular.
In connection with “Buffy”, the actress sought to broaden the scope of her talents, co-writing with novelist Christopher Golden the comic book WannaBlessedBe, based on her character on the supernatural series. Back on the big screen, Benson was featured in the festival-screened, controversy-plagued “Don’s Plum” (2001; filmed 1995-96) which was barred from domestic release as per a legal agreement mandated by the film’s stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire, who allege the project was misrepresented. Taking over her own project, Benson proved a multitalented filmmaker and avid do-it-yourselfer as writer, producer, director and prime financer of “Chance” (lensed 2001), a dark comedy in which she also starred.