If those who love fashion in film were anticipating another Tom Ford movie before, they might be bouncing off the walls today. George Clooney and his producing partner, Grant Heslov, have signed on to produce “Nocturnal Animals,” Ford’s writing/directing followup to “A Single Man,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.
There’s no word yet on who will star in the film, but it’s easy enough to imagine Clooney in one of the leading roles. The movie is an adaptation of Austin Wright’s 1993 novel Tony and Susan, about a suburban doctor’s wife who receives a manuscript from the man she divorced 20 years before. The story goes back and forth between Susan’s life and the manuscript (called “Nocturnal Animals”), about a man who takes a road trip with his wife and daughter, with tragic consequences.
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“A book is a book; a film is a film,” Ford told WWD last month, before he’d revealed what he was adapting. “They are totally different things. Sometimes things are subtle in a book because there’s an inner monologue with the character, and turning it into a film, you don’t have that inner monologue — unless you do, which I don’t love…. You have to have something personal; you have to take what speaks to you about a book and amplify that. It’s impressionism, in a way.”
Will this movie match the impeccable style of 2009’s “A Single Man,” which dressed Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and Nicolas Hoult in enviable 1962 fashions? Firth’s suits alone made every man in Hollywood step up their tailoring that awards season. And the characters’ shoes were nothing to sneeze at, either.
“Nocturnal Animals” could take place in any modern era of Ford’s choosing, though he’s not likely to do the same thing twice.
Ford told WWD that he has to film this project in just six weeks to fit into his fashion schedule. It’s a tight timeline, but we doubt it’ll show in the finished project.
