Justin Kurzel recently revealed that his next film would be an adaptation of the book “Burning Rainbow Farm,” which tells the true story of two marijuana advocates who had a five-day standoff with the FBI, which resulted in both of their deaths.
This was originally a Lenny Abrahamson (“Room“) project, but has now morphed into the hands of Kurzel. How did the transition occur? It turns out that it was actually Sebastian Stan who reached out to Kurzel, and asked him to direct the project. Stan will be one of the two leads in the film.
It’ll be interesting to see what Kurzel does with “Burning Rainbow,” about a true Waco-style FBI standoff that happened just a week before 9/11. Stan will either be playing Tom Crosslin or Rolland Rohm, a gay couple who defended their land amid police investigations linked to a festival-associated killing and their marijuana plants.
Kurzel is coming off the release of his gritty ‘70s-style cop drama “The Order,” and before that one he had directed the best film of his career, 2021’s Cannes-winning “Nitram.” His other works include the underrated “Snowtown,” “The True History Of The Kelly Gang,” and “MacBeth.” Don’t ask about his adaptation of “Assassin’s Creed” — he might as well disown that one.
It should be noted that Kurzel has a few projects in development as there’s also the Nicole Kidman starring horror thriller “Mice,” and he recently finished shooting a series, starring Jacob Elordi, based on the Booker Prize-winning novel called ‘Narrow Road to the Deep North‘ for Amazon
As for Stan, he’s coming off a remarkable year which saw him deliver two acclaimed performances in “A Different Man” and “The Apprentice.” His next film, Cristian Mungiu’s “Fjord,” will be shot in March, and then I gather he’ll be headed to Michigan to shoot “Burning Rainbow Farm.”