This has been in the works for awhile now, but Robert Zemeckis and 20th Century Fox have officially come to an agreement for Zemeckis to get involved in the film adaptation of The Barefoot Bandit.
This still doesn't mean there's definitely going to be a movie, but involving an A-list director like Zemeckis -- Forrest Gump, Cast Away, Polar Express, and even a few movies without Tom Hanks, such as Romancing the Stone, Back to the Future(s), Contact, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and so on including the next Denzel Washington film, Flight, which is in post production -- is a good thing.
It's unfortunate that all the Hollywood press that picks up any stories on the movie keeps referring to the original title of my book: Taking Flight. Not that I didn't like the title, but the title of both the book and the screenplay changed to The Barefoot Bandit. (It'd also be cool for them to acknowledge once in awhile that there IS a book.)
So, the film is in development, which can mean a lot of things. In this case, it means screenwriter Lance Black (Milk, J. Edgar, Virginia) is completing his third draft of the script in consultation with Zemeckis. Fox secured the rights to my book and to Colton's life rights (with all of the life rights money going to repay Colton's victims).
I know that a favorite game has been speculating on which actor would be best to play the Barefoot Bandit. There's still no word on that, though don't be surprised if it turns out to be none of the usual suspects...
