While the tam tam grows on who will be the new James Bond, Luca Guadagnino is trying to materialize a film with Daniel Craig in the part of William Lee, the protagonist of 'Queer', a short novel by William Burroughs that has remained unpublished for decades.
In the odor of an Oscar for 'Bones and All' with Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell, the director of 'Call Me by Your Name' is raising funds to make the project, Deadline writes today.
'Queer', published in Italy by Adelphi, is set in an endless slum that goes from Mexico City, the world capital of crime, to Panama where Lee, an insecure American expat and alter ego of the writer in heroin withdrawal , weaves a loving web around Allerton, an ambiguous young man inspired by another real-life character,
a former sailor from Florida who Burroughs met during his stay in the Mexican capital.
First published in English in 1985 although written between 1951 and 1953, 'Queer' is considered a sequel to 'Junkie', the 1953 novel about Burroughs' experiences as a drug addict who decreed his success in the universe of Beat literature.
If Guadagnino's project goes through, it will be only the second film based on the novels of the 'prophet of all drugs' after David Cronenberg's 1991 'Naked Lunch'. The Italian director, as Deadline recalls, is at work even on other films.
There's the one for Apple about Audrey Hepburn with Rooney Mara as the iconic actress, a remake of 'Scarface' and potentially a sequel to '
Call me by your name'.
As for Craig, 'Glass Onion' has just been released, the sequel to Rian Johnson's 'Knives Out' which Netflix brought to theaters on the AMC, Regal and Cinemark circuits for a week before landing on the streaming platform on December 23rd .
Last fall, the actor wrapped up his role as 007 in 'No Time to Die' which grossed $774 million globally and his successor still hasn't been officially named.
However, the rumors are growing: the latest candidate to inherit the keys to Aston Martin would be the 32-year-old British Aaron Taylor-Jones, known for roles in 'Angus', 'Thongs and Perfect Snogging', 'Kick-Ass' and 'Avengers: Age of Ultron'.
According to gossip site 'Deuxmoi', "