Okay, here's the bad news, sort of, looks like we're not going to
see Tom Cruise starring as Joe Simpson in a Hollywood dramatisation
of Touching The Void.
The good news though is that production company Darlow Smithson
are making a drama documentary of the book for Channel 4 with Joe and
Simon Yates. Simpson has just returned from filming in Peru and will
be working on more filming, stunts and reconsturction in the alps later
this summer.
The film apparently has a £1.5 million budget and will last
either 90 or 120 minutes. Initially it's scheduled for limited
release in the cinema, but after the Cannes Film Festival should be
released on television, though exact dates aren't yet available.
Meanwhile Joe Simpson is, as he promised, returning this week for
another attempt on the North Face of the Eiger. His first visit to
the mountain, which forms the core of his last book The Beckoning
Silence - see
review - ended tragically when a pair of climbers fell to their
death from above the bivvy site where Simpson and his partner Ray
Delaney were sheltering. The route is the last big tick on Simpson's
list before he gives up on the big mountains.
More details of the film when we have them. Meanwhile, for links
to Simpson's contributions to this web site, see the related articles
below.
Lloyd Bower
