Gus sips the Kool-Aid

Nearly 40 years after its publication THE ELECTRIC KOOL-AID ACID TEST is finally coming to the big screen. Gus Van Sant will direct the adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s novel from writer Lance Black (HBO’s “Big Love”). The book followed author Ken Kesey (“One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”) and his band of Merry Pranksters (including Hunter S. Thompson) as they took a ride from San Francisco to New York in a psychedelic bus named “Further” tripping on acid and hitting up Grateful Dead shows. The film rights to the book were acquired in the late-60s by entrepreneur Alfred Roven who has been fiercely protective of them since. Van Sant, who was a friend of Kesey and cast him in EVEN COWGIRLS GET THE BLUES, quickly signed on once the rights became available. Van Sant and Black are also collaborating on another film, a biopic of the slain San Francisco mayor Harvey Milk. Though Wolfe’s book was written in a journalistic way, he won’t be included in the film as a major character. It will also be interesting to see how Van Sant portrays Thompson after Johnny Depp’s memorable performance in FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS. No word on when filming might begin.