‘Brokeback Mountain’ screenwriters Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana are currently working on two new period western scrips, Cinemablend.com is reporting. The two, who won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for their hit 2005 film, are adapting the Paulette Jiles novel ‘The Color of Lightening,’ and the S.C. Gwynee book ‘Empire of the Summer Moon.’
‘The Color of Lightening’ is being developed by 20th Century Fox, and Ridley Scott is attached to direct the film. The novel follows a freed slave named Britt Johnson who wants to move his family to Texas so he can star a new business. But his family is taken hostage by Native Americans, who kill his oldest son, leaving Johnson to take revenge.
‘Empire of the Summer Moon’ is being described as a ‘Braveheart’-style epic, and follows a Comanche warrior who stopped expansionist settlers from taking over land for over 40 years. The film is being developed by Warner Bros. Scott Cooper, who directed the Oscar-winning ‘Crazy Heart,’ is on board to helm the film.
Written by: Karen Benardello
