William H. Macy To Star In Elmore Leonard Adaptation Freaky Deaky

When done right, a movie based on an Elmore Leonard book can be utterly fantastic. Sadly, however, for every hit, there tends to be a miss. Jackie Brown: Good, The Big Bounce: Bad. Get Shorty: Good, Be Cool: Bad. Let's hope the newest venture into Leonard's literary work turns out on the right side.

Deadline reports that William H. Macy, who is currently promoting his newest film, Dirty Girl, at the Toronto International Film Festival, has signed on to star in Freaky Deaky, an adaptation written and to be directed by Charlie Matthau. Set in the 1970s, Macy will play Woody Ricks, an alcoholic millionaire who works with a group of radicals who "use their skills for blowing stuff up for entrepreneurial purposes." Production is scheduled to begin next year.

When you take into account Leonard's flair and style, it shouldn't be surprising that so many of his books are adapted for the big screen, but it is a shame that they aren't always treated well. Let's hope that this one is a little more like Out of Sight than Killshot and that Macy is a little more like Fargo than Wild Hogs.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.