Acclaimed director Ramin Bahrani re-teams with his “99 Homes” star Michael Shannon for the new HBO adaptation “Fahrenheit 451.” The film co-stars Michael B. Jordan and Sofia Boutella in the adaptation of the famous Ray Bradbury novel, that you probably read and somewhat remember from high school.
The film, set to be released this spring, depicts a future where the media is an opiate, history is rewritten and ‘firemen’ burn books. Michael B. Jordan stars as Montag, a young fireman who forsakes his world and struggles to regain his humanity as he battles his mentor, fire captain Beatty, played by Shannon.
Bradbury’s novel has previously been adapted in 1966 by Francois Truffaut. That film, which starred Julie Christie and Oscar Werner, was Truffaut’s first and last in English and while it received mixed reviews upon release, it’s stature has grown in the years since. Bahrani’s adaptation looks to update the setting to more modern times, as he has noted, “I always loved Ray Bradbury’s prophetic novel … two years ago, as I looked at the world around me, it seemed like the ideal time to do a modern interpretation.”
Bahrani is co-wrote the script with his “99 Homes” co-writer Amir Naderi. The film hits HBO in May, and one wonders if it’ll roll through Cannes first.