In what I genuinely find a cool piece of news, it seems the people behind Richard Linklater’s upcoming film ME AND ORSON WELLES are putting together a very special streaming-broadcast of the real Orson Welles narrating the classic H.G. Wells story WAR OF THE WORLDS, as it originally aired 71 years ago to the day (Oct. 30, 1938).
In 1938, just one year after forming The Mercury Theater, Orson Welles took to the air with a series of radio broadcasts on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) called The Mercury Theater on the Air. In the most famous of these episodes, Welles directed and narrated an adaptation of H.G. Wells’ novel, reading without commercial interruption as it was a news broadcast.
I don’t know how you all feel about such an event, but I can definitely see myself posted up on the 30th with a brew while listening to this. Shit, anything to get away from my parents being in town!
The reading will broadcast on Oct. 30th at 8:00 PM ET. Where? Here: http://waroftheworldstribute.com/
ME AND ORSON WELLES stars Christian McKay, Claire Danes (below), Zac Efron, Kelly Reilly, Zoe Kazan, Eddie Marsan and James Tupper. The film will hit in theaters on November 25th, 2009.