Whoa! Ron Howard Will Direct UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN Adaptation For WB!

I read author Jon Krakauer‘s 2003 book UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN about 5 years ago and its description of the violent beginnings of fundamentalist mormons back in the day left me speechless. In 2007, there was a movie called September Dawn starring Jon Voight and Terrence Stamp which told of a certain massacre caused by renegade mormon groups, the same story was part of the Krakauer’s book, but it’s not the book’s essential story which actually focuses more on two brothers and an unspeakable crime. Well folks, the adaptation is happening..

Deadline reported that WB is is developing the adaptation of UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN and the packet includes Oscar winning Milk scribe Dustin Lance Black (who had a mormon background) to write the script and Ron Howard will direct.
Howard is busy prepping for his next gig, RUSH. Howard and Grazer’s other ambitious project, THE DARK TOWER was recently rejected by Universal, so now they’re looking for a backer and WB may end up helping them out.
By the way, Lance Black also did some writing for some episodes of HBO’s great series Big Love which dealt with mormonism and polygamy.

Here’s the book’s official synopsis..

Jon Krakauer’s literary reputation rests on insightful chronicles of lives conducted at the outer limits. He now shifts his focus from extremes of physical adventure to extremes of religious belief within our own borders, taking readers inside isolated American communities where some 40,000 Mormon Fundamentalists still practice polygamy. Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the renegade leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to God.
At the core of Krakauer’s book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, and unyielding faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America’s fastest growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.