Jack Nicholson may have unofficially retired from acting in 2010, but his legacy lives on thanks to his many classic films. Who can forget his performance in The Shining, or Chinatown, or Easy Rider, or one of the more than 50 other movies he’s been in? The man’s a true legend. Now, it appears as if one of his Academy Award-winning classics might be coming to the small screen in a new version that will differ significantly from the big-screen adaptation.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is in the very early stages of being developed for television by producer Paul Zaentz, who is the son of one of the movie’s original producers, Saul Zaentz. He was on hand at the 59th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic, screening a newly restored copy of the 1975 Nicholson drama along with the film’s other producer, Michael Douglas. During a press conference, it was then that Zaentz revealed that a TV adaptation of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was in the works, explaining that it wouldn’t be a remake of director Miloš Forman’s movie, but rather a more faithful adaptation of Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel:
“Over the last 50 years, there have been hundreds of calls from studios, directors, and producers who want to remake the movie, and we would never allow it to be remade if they were just going to do it as Miloš made it. It would be a dishonor. We just made an arrangement with Ken Kesey’s family to possibly do a television series, but it’s based on the book, and the book was told through the eyes of Chief Bromden, so the television series would be through his eyes.”
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Published on February 1, 1962, Kesey’s novel was narrated by Bromden, the hulking, half-Native American who presents himself as deaf, mute, and docile. Portrayed by the late Will Sampson, he was reduced to a secondary character in the movie, which lost a lot of Kesey’s themes in translation. Nicholson’s Randle McMurphy was front and center in Forman’s adaptation instead, which has gone on to be regarded as a classic today, and not only won Best Picture, but earned Nicolson his first Academy Award for Best Actor.
Can a TV Adaptation of ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ Work?
United Artists
As many these days bemoan Hollywood’s affinity for sequels, remakes, and reboots, the question now becomes: Can a small-screen version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest really work? Well, that depends. Zaentz noted in that same press conference what the story arc for the series would be, saying that “at the end of the first season, R.P. McMurphy, the Jack Nicholson character, would die, and then the second year would be what happens to the Chief after he escapes.”
Fans will surely remember that it was Bromden who smothered McMurphy to death after his friend was lobotomized, and then promptly escaped after ripping a hydrotherapy fountain off its base and chucking it through the window. That’s the same ending as Kesey’s novel, so there’s not much difference there. It’s how we get there in this new version that matters, and what happens after that gives us pause for concern.
We’re all for telling the story through the Chief’s eyes as the novel intended, but expanding it to fictionalize what comes after? That’s a big gamble. In the hands of a less experienced creator, things could go horribly wrong once they try and come up with what happened to Bromden after he escaped, and seeing how no writers, studios, or networks have even been mentioned thus far, it’s just too early to gauge how things will go. Yes, we’re nervous, but there’s also the potential to tell a really powerful story that could highlight themes of mental health, dignity, control, and conformity. One thing we definitely know is that they should keep Ryan Murphy as far away from the project as possible.
As we await more news on the One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest TV adaptation, you can currently rent or purchase the original 1975 Nicholson favorite on all VOD platforms.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
You can view the original article HERE.
