Although Hollywood is perfectly willing to throw hundreds of millions of dollars at blockbuster projects, it can be tough out there for independent filmmakers, and nobody knows that better than Jeff Nichols. Although The Bikeriders filmmaker has moved forward with King Snake, a gothic horror starring Margaret Qualley, Drew Starkey, and Michael Shannon, two of his other projects haven’t fared as well.
Back in 2020, it was announced that Jeff Nichols would be writing and directing Yankee Comandante, adapted from David Grann’s article in The New Yorker about Che Guevara and William Alexander Morgan. Adam Driver was set to star, but six years later, Nichols has told Variety that the project is dead.
“I love that film and I would really like to make it. It’s hard to take a movie out in March of 2020. That was a rough year! I love it so much and David Grann’s article that inspired it is so good,” he said. “I’m loath to ever say movies are important, but it feels like something that’s important. Adam was going to star as William Morgan, and now that won’t happen.“
However, Nichols did tease that he still plans on reuniting with Driver for something else. “We’ve got another project that we’re going to do together,” Nichols said. “It’s an important film not only about our relationship with Cuba but also our relationship with the Southern Hemisphere and whether we’re able to export our ideology. I love what the film talks about and I love that it’s a true story that’s a little bit gonzo.“
In addition to Yankee Comandante, Nicholas was writing adaptations of two Cormac McCarthy books, The Passenger and Stella Maris, but he doesn’t think that’s moving forward either.
“Those two books would become one screenplay, which I’ve written, because the books are connected,” he said. “But that was with New Regency and I don’t think they’ll be moving forward with that one. It’s a challenging story and it made for a challenging screenplay. Ultimately, they were looking for a more commercial story and I think I was a little too faithful to the books.“
Last year, Nichols’ frequent collaborator, Michael Shannon, said no one was willing to cough up the dough for another movie. “It’s kind of mind-boggling,” Shannon said. “Jeff has a hard time getting money to make a film. He’s made six films—I would say all of them at least excellent, if not magnificent motion pictures. He can’t get the money. Granted, he’s ambitious; he doesn’t want to just go and make a $1 million movie, but he shouldn’t have to at this point in his career.“
Although those two projects likely aren’t moving forward, we do have King Snake to look forward to. The film follows a “young couple (Qualley and Starkey), who inherit a farm in rural Arkansas and must conquer the demons, both physical and metaphysical, that haunt its legacy. Forces of good and evil collide in a terrifying film where real-world challenges crash headlong into other worldly creatures and myths.“
Nichols teased that it’s something of a return, as it’s the first original piece he’s made since Midnight Special, which was released a decade ago. “It’s really exciting in that it’s something that’s cut from whole creative cloth and completely out of my mind — and sometimes I feel a little out of my mind,” he said. “I really go for it in this one, and I’m really excited to see how it plays.“
He continued, “There are definitely horror elements to it, for sure, and more forward-facing horror elements than I’ve ever done. You’ve found me at a sensitive time in the process because I’m there in the editing room right now putting together my first pass, and to be brutally honest, I’m still figuring the film out. One thing I’ll say is: Margaret Qualley and Drew Starkey are phenomenal in the film. They are so good in this film and they are so good together. I guess I’m always making relationship dramas, but it’s fascinating to me how central it is to this movie.“