Some background information on the film adaptation of 'The Road'

The Road, directed by John Hillcoat

When was it made into a film?

‘The Road’ was made into a film in 2009, 3 years after it had been published.

How was the film received? Find reviews online and an overview.

The film was received really well and, like the book, received many positive reviews from important newspapers such as ‘The Guardian’. Here is a quote from The Guardian’s review on ‘The Road’ – “The father can't confide in his son; the boy cannot explain his terrors to his father, and the pair of them are utterly alone in this abysmal cosmic wasteland. It is an inexpressibly painful subject and Hillcoat has brought it to the screen with great intelligence”. Credit should go to John Hillcoat, who managed to create a very powerful and meaningful film which lived up to the novel.

Tell me 10 important facts about the film.

1.      It was directed by John Hillcoat who mostly directs music videos.

2.      The film is very similar to the book, although there are key differences. For instance, the film is narrated in 1^st Person, whereas the book is narrated in the 3^rd Person.

3.      The main actors bonded and got into character by eating crickets together.

4.      In keeping with the novel, the cause of the apocalypse is never explained.

5.      The shooting schedule involved 9 hours filming a day, however the boy in the film was unavailable for 3 of these hours do to schooling.

6.      To get into the role, the main actor slept in his clothes and deliberately starved himself.

7.      Whenever it was a sunny day and they were filming, they had to use CGI to make the sky look cloudier.

8.      The movie cost and estimated $20,000,000 to produce

9.      It made over $1,500,000 on the opening weekend.

10.  Joe Penhall wrote the screenplay for the movie (based on the novel).