Redford has been involved in the project for some time – having been tying to set it up since 2005 – the film being an adaptation of Bill Bryson’s amusing travel book of the same name.
A Walk in the Woods charts Bryson’s attempted completion of Eastern America’s Appalachian Trail, a hiking route which extends between Georgia and Maine. Joined by an old friend – the overweight, recovering alcoholic Stephen Katz – the due make incredibly poor progress as they skip large parts of the trail and eventually give up having walked just (how can I say just?) 500 of the trail’s 2,181 miles.
Interspersed with discussion of the trails history and ecology – and littered with a vast array of memorable characters (not least among them, the slow-minded, Little Debby loving Mary Ellen) – A Walk In The Woods is an often painfully funny piece of anecdotal travel writing.
With Chris Columbus once on board, the last director attached to the project was Barry Levinson – though it remains unclear if Levinson still has plans to direct.