EAST OF EDEN, the 1955 movie directed by Elia Kazan, will always been known as the film that shot a young James Dean to international stardom. That film was based on the second half of John Steinbeck’s novel of the same name, which reenacts the stories of both Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel, and now nearly sixty years on, we’re getting a new version of that classic story. In the 1955 movie, Dean and Richard Massey played the Trask brothers, who warred with one another to win over the affection of their father.
THE HUNGERS GAMES director Gary Ross is looking to direct the new version, with Jennifer Lawrence starring andUniversal Pictures stumping up the cash and producing with Imagine Entertainment. Lawrence is all set to play a central character named Cathy Ames, the cold and cruel mother of Caleb and Aron Trask. Brian Grazer will act as producer.
With Lawrence playing the mother, the question is who will play the young brothers, and indeed what age will they be in the film. Dean was 24 when he played Cal Trask in Kazan’s movie, a year older than the age of Jennifer Lawrence today.
Here’s a look at the 1955 classic, and keep an eye out for Jo Van Fleet who won an Oscar for her role of (Kate) Ames, the role which Lawrence will play in the update. We’ve also posted the book synopsis for Steinbeck’s source material from Amazon underneath too.
Amazon book synopsis: Set in the rich farmland of California’s Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.
Source: Deadline
