Until now, Will Gluck has spent his directing career finding new twists on high school or romantic comedy tropes with the likes of Easy A and Friends With Benefits. It seems he’s ready to spread his wings a little bit (pun intended) and try his hand at action comedy with an adaptation of Skyjack: The Hunt For DB Cooper.
Geoffrey Gray’s novel is based on the true story of Cooper, who on November 24, 1971, boarded a Boeing 727 and promptly hijacked it. Demanding $200,000 and a parachute to aid his escape, he leapt from the aircraft over the Pacific Northwest and was never caught. The crime and the mysterious figure at the centre of it has entered the American public consciousness: various books, TV plots and movies have referenced him in the years since he pulled off the audacious robbery.
The book’s plot is told from the perspectives of three people who claim to be Cooper. Keith Bunin, who has been writing a biopic of Dr Seuss for Johnny Depp to star in, is on board to hammer out the Skyjack script.
Though the new project is backed by CBS Films, Gluck is still mostly focused on his deal with Sony, and has been developing various scripts, including an untitled project he’s producing with his **Easy A **star Emma Stone and another true-life crime story adaptation, Stealing The Moon. Still, consider this one on his To Do list and let's see how long it takes to get to the top.