A Confederacy of Dunces"A Confederacy of Dunces" finally has a director, After 22 years in development hell and a high-profile lawsuit between Hollywood heavies, David Gordon Green ("George Washington") has been tapped to direct the adaptation of John Kennedy Toole's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, reports Variety.
The project is set up at Miramax Films, which bought the "Dunces" rights from Paramount in June. The 28-year-old helmer, who is in Los Angeles where casting has begun, will start shooting the project on location in New Orleans next spring.
"I've been obsessed with this book since an English teacher of mine gave it to me when I was a kid," said Green. "It really captures human emotions and the way they relate to each other, but not in a caricatured way. It's an ambitious step forward."
The novel follows the labyrinthine story of Ignatius J. Reilly, a colorful would-be academic who suffers through a series of lousy jobs, stilted romances and misadventures while living at home with his mother in 1960s-era New Orleans.
Scott Kramer and Steven Soderbergh will write the "Dunces" script.
Drew Barrymore is to produce and will play an as-yet-unspecified role in the picture.