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Chuck Palahniuk’s CHOKE Gets A Greenlight! And The RANT Website Goes Live!

Published at:  May 01, 2007 5:14:12 AM CDT


Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.

Here’s some interesting news for Chuck Palahniuk fans:



Hey Drew,

Dennis from ChuckPalahniuk.net here. I just got off the phone with Chuck, and it's official, 'Choke', Chuck's 4th novel, has been greenlit and is going into production on June 18th. Here's the story, as we're posting it on our front page.

Please post this with credit to me (as 'Dennis Widmyer') and a link to our site as the Official Site of Chuck Palahniuk.

You can also tell people Chuck is on tour for 'Rant' starting on Wednesday and all the dates are posted here.

***************************

I just got off the phone with Chuck and it's official: Choke is going into production on June 18th! Sam Rockwell is set to star, and first-timer Clark Gregg will be directing. A little history on Gregg: He wrote the Robert Zemeckis thriller What Lies Beneath and, as an actor, is a regular on the hit TV show The New Adventures of Old Christine. Gregg adapted Choke into screenplay form and has been championing the project for years now. God bless him and his tenacity as the film has finally been greenlit for production and Gregg will be getting his debut in the directing chair. Chuck also went on to tell me that the mom is most likely Glenn Close, Annette Benning or Juliana Moore.

Thanks, Drew!
Dennis Widmyer
Webmaster
A Writer's Cult, LLC
ChuckPalahniuk.net


And for those of you who are already Chuck crazy and looking for a fix, don’t forget RANT, which I quite liked.



Hi Harry,
Chuck Palahniuk’s new book, RANT will be released May 1, 2007.
I have some really exciting news! The official RANT website has launched and I urge you to check it out!
Here it is...


    + Expand All

    Readers Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 5:15:19 AM CDT

    again, one more time?

    by sweetduder

  • May 01, 2007 5:23:36 AM CDT

    Is Palahniuk really that good?

    by derlanghaarige

    I love the movie of Fight Club, but when I bought the book, it annoyed the hell out of me, so I never dared to read any of his books again. Are his other books better?

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 5:41:14 AM CDT

    As happy as I am

    by apneicmonkey

    that Choke is being made into a film, I still keep praying that Survivor will get made into a film. I would say that book's a better read than even Fight Club!

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 6:35:11 AM CDT

    Palahniuk is kinda like Dan Brown

    by monkey butler

    except possible worse. If that's possible. Haunted was just about the worst book I've ever read.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 7:02:13 AM CDT

    Palahniuk is a great read.

    by otter

    I wasn't crazy about the book Fight Club, but I've devoured Lullaby, Choke, and am reading Survivor now. He's like a modern day Vonnegut.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 7:55:37 AM CDT

    I would rather they make Survivor

    by laserbrain

    And how anyone can compare Palahniuk to Dan Brown is beyond me.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 8:17:43 AM CDT

    Is Palahniuk really that good?

    by the central scrutinizer

    I really liked "Lullaby".

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 8:25:01 AM CDT

    no.

    by soma imp

    A modern day Kurt Vonnegut? I'll pretend i didnt read that before my brain melts. I'd say he's like a literary Marilyn Manson. He has some compelling (although single minded) things to say about disenfranchised males and our visual culture etc, but his technique leaves something to be desired. In the same way that Manson only knows about 5 chords, Palahniuk writes in an annoying, repetitive staccato that becomes more and more annoying over the course of one his books so once you've reached the end

    You just.

    Want him.

    To.

    Get the fuck.

    On.

    With It.

    Modern day Kurt Vonnegut? Not quite.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 9:35:01 AM CDT

    one of my favorite books

    by dcut75

    Has one of my favorite lines...
    "If Jesus had laughed on the cross, or spit on the romans church would have been a lot more interesting. But all he did was sit there and suffer..."
    I really hope they adapt this book properly.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 9:42:54 AM CDT

    Sam Rockwell!

    by apstalin

    Great Choice for the lead character. There is another female role that I am interested in hearing about: Paige Marshall. But really great casting.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 9:50:56 AM CDT

    Yeah, Survivor was way better

    by spandau belly

    Choke had too much quark and didn't connect its themes well. Survivor is great and a lot easier to translate to the screen. Choke is just so anticlimactic compared to Survivor.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 9:55:13 AM CDT

    julianne moore as sam rockwell's mom?

    by badmrwonka

    is dakota fanning playing his aunt? moore is 8 years older that rockwell. benning would be a much better choice, at least she's got 18 on Rockwell.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 10:02:31 AM CDT

    cuddler rapist directing?

    by waggy

    shield fans should get the joke. finally a palahniuk movie is moving forward. now make lullaby dammit!

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 10:17:22 AM CDT

    Supposed film geeks shitting on the writer of

    by i dunno

    Fight Club...There are some diabolical player haters on this board.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 10:29:21 AM CDT

    Lullaby? You guys liked Lullaby?!

    by cyanide christ

    First off, I am a huge Palahniuk fan. I have loved every piece of fiction he has published with one exception...fucking Lullaby. I think a kid in middle school wrote it but thought it was a piece of shit so he threw it in a dumpster, then along came Chuck on "dumpster diving Thursday". He finds the discarded manuscript, slaps his name on it, and sells it to his unfortunate fans. And we all fucking bought it. Good one, Chuck.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 10:47:32 AM CDT

    I tried reading Choke and Diary after Fight Club

    by lovecraftfan

    Hated both of them

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 11:21:54 AM CDT

    Are they actually going to attempt an R rating for this

    by kusoyaro

    Why bother attempting if they don't aim for an NC-17 or decide to just flat-out go hardcore, ala Shortbus?

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 11:30:16 AM CDT

    Literary Marilyn Manson...

    by rev_skarekroe

    That's good. Very apt description.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 11:38:15 AM CDT

    My Choke castlist

    by tomdpimp2k

    Victor: Adrien Grenier

    Denny: Sam Rockwell

    Mrs Mancini: Marissa Tomei (she can pull off both present and flashback looks)

    Denny's stripper girlfriend: Scarlett Johansen

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 12:55:31 PM CDT

    They can do it without NC-17

    by jmyoung666

    The scene near the beginning can be simulated sex without showing anything. There will definitely be nudity in a couple of later scenes, but it can still get an R. Not to say they could not go for the NC-17 if they wanted.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 1:07:14 PM CDT

    Yes, everyone always shoots for that coveted NC-17

    by i dunno

    Lucas added a couple amputations to 'Revenge of the Sith' to get it but the MPAA wouldn't have any.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 1:17:12 PM CDT

    almost choked when I read "modern day Vonnegut"

    by hktelemacher

    Of course that's also plastered all over the book jackets by generous critics, so whatever. But I wouldn't go as far as to call him a Dan Brown either. I quit Chuck after Choke. Not that I didn't like it, it was pretty good, but I really felt like I had read the same book four times at that point -- just with different factoids throughout, and I didn't have the desire to shell out again for more of the same. Survivor was his best by a long shot. Fight Club was the rare case I like to point out when people say books are always better than their movie adaptations. I didn't fall in love with the book, and the twist was telegraphed from a mile away. Had I not read the book before seeing the movie I wouldn't have seen it coming. Yet another case of books ruining movies. Fincher proved that, if done right, Palahniuk's material can transcend itself on film. Sam Rockwell's involvemet is an excellent sign CHOKE is going to work, and hopefully a first time director will have all the chutzpah and tenacity to do things right and not get bushwhacked by the big brass because his lack of clout or experience can't back up this marginalizing material.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 2:28:07 PM CDT

    Should I believe it?

    by pwnedbystallone

    I've been hering about this shit for 5 yers at least now. Is it really happening? REALLY? Cameras actually rolling. I don't believe it. Please let it be true. Now if these pussies would only adapt Survivor.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 2:51:48 PM CDT

    Rant is a fantastic book...

    by danielkurland

    It's been out in Canada for a few days, and I've finished it. It's probably my favorite book of his. It starts out alright, but the end gets really crazy and wonderful. The stuff implied and preached in it seems like it will be followed a lot more than the stuff Tyler Durden was pushing too. I'll be seeing Palahniuk on the 24th doing a reading on it as well, and that sounds like a great cast for Choke. Consider me excited. But yeah, everyone check out Rant, it's very much so worth it.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 2:56:23 PM CDT

    Survivor WAS going to be made into a movie...

    by danielkurland

    Then 9/11 happened, and everything was halted. Diary and Lullaby I thought were merely okay books, but I've loved everything else he's done. Bening or Close would both be good as the mom, but come on Ellen Burstyn would eat up that role. And Philip Seymour Hoffman would be great as Victor's friend. Hopefully this end product is as good as Fight Club was, hopefully it contains an abundance of voiceover, and hopefully the safe word/fake rape scene is kept in tact, it's maybe one of the funniest things I've read.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 3:17:06 PM CDT

    Haunted

    by cyanide christ

    I thought that Haunted had some kick-ass stories in it, but I did not like the central story at all. It would have been a better read as a collection of short stories that were not connected. Oh well, it was still better than Lullaby.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 3:20:34 PM CDT

    DanielKurland

    by cyanide christ

    I had heard that Jim Carrey wanted the role of Tender in Survivor. Did you hear anything about that or is that just wishful thinking on my part? He would have been great; especially if it would have been "Eternal Sunshine" Carrey as opposed to "Ace Ventura" Carrey.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 3:47:02 PM CDT

    CyanideChrist...

    by danielkurland

    I hadn't heard that Carrey rumor, but that certainly doesn't mean it wasn't true. I'd have been all for it. I enjoyed Invisible Monsters more than Survivor, and that was also apparently close to getting greenlit (and is still in some stage of production now) with Jessisa Biel in talks. The reveal at the end of that, would make it a lot harder to translate to film though. Rant, in my opinion, would be almost impossible to adapt to a film. I'd be very impressed to see an attempt on it.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 4:54:01 PM CDT

    Love all his books, but the movie will tank!

    by homer sexual

    Ok, I admit that Choke isn't one of my favorites, but I'd still give it an "A." My book club, however, hated it! (Unsurprisingly) and there is no way this movie will succeed. Even Brad Pitt and a then-hot Edward Norton couldn't make Fight Club a hit, and Sam Rockwell has no mass market following. Zippo.

    This might actually be a very good movie, but it won't make money.

    On a redonkulous tangent, all that colonial stuff in the book makes me think of an SNL skit, back when Britney was still so sweet and fine, when Sully and Zazoo went to colonial Williamsburg and Britney was a butter churner.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 5:55:21 PM CDT

    Sam Rockwell?

    by the_shogun_gunslinger

    awesome :)

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 6:05:16 PM CDT

    Choke is probably the worst book I've ever read

    by the grey ghost

    And I guess it isn't even his most terrible.

    Seriously, the guy writes with all the depth and insight of a Hot Topic t-shirt.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 7:50:34 PM CDT

    The Lone Gunmen knew

    by performingmonkey

  • May 01, 2007 8:16:47 PM CDT

    I just got off the phone with Chuck, and it's official.

    by christopher3

    His writing: not so good.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 01, 2007 9:02:13 PM CDT

    I just got off the phone with Chuck,

    by jacknchuckslovechild

    and he roundhouse kicked the shit outta me through the phone somehow, right after I said I "finished" his book and enjoyed it very much. Wrong Chuck I suppose.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 02, 2007 10:34:00 AM CDT

    Choke?

    by liljuniorbrown

    I missed that one. Plot details anyone? I'd really like to know what all the hub bub is about. I was kind of hoping for a Fight Club sequel,if done right it could be made into a great film by Fincher (Panic Room and Zodiac are so underrated) and I'd be there opening night.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 02, 2007 10:58:42 AM CDT

    Nevermind.

    by liljuniorbrown

    I just did a plot synopsis of all of the books listed in the posts (Invisible Monsters,Lullaby,Survivor,and Haunted) and of all the plots I read Survivor seems like the one I would most likely want to see on film,that includes Choke. Who ever suggested Jim Carey for the starring role in Survivor was dead on,that is if Brad Pitt wasn't interested and above all get Fincher back to direct.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 02, 2007 1:04:23 PM CDT

    It's "Roundhouse" Kick...

    by dallasgoodbar

    And I believe Choke was not as good as Survivor. When I suggested drag performer Varla-Jean Merman as Brandy Alexander to Chuck he admitted that 'Invisible Monsters' and 'Lullaby' are the least likely to be made into a feature. Straight from the horse's mouth.

    Reply to Talkback

  • May 02, 2007 8:36:38 PM CDT

    Spoiler re: Julianne Moore

    by darth kubrick

    The mom is shown in several flashbacks to the hero's childhood in the book. Hence the casting.

    Reply to Talkback

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