Glen Powell Attached to New ‘Heaven Can Wait’

(Left) Actor Glen Powell arrives at The 89th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood, CA on Sunday, February 26, 2017. Credit/Provider: Michael Yada / ©A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S. (Right) Warren Beatty in 1978’s ‘Heaven Can Wait’. Photo: Paramount Pictures.

Preview:

Glen Powell’s attached to star in ‘Heaven Can Wait’.
Stephen Gaghan is writing the script.
The story has been brought to screens before, most famously by Warren Beatty.

Just when you thought Glen Powell couldn’t add another project to a growing To Do list, he goes and does just that.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, confirming a story from Puck, Powell is now attached to a new movie version of ‘Heaven Can Wait’, which has been brought to screens several times in the past.

“Joe Pendleton… the only guy who ever raised Hell about going to Heaven.”

PG1 hr 41 minJun 28th, 1978

What’s the story and history of ‘Heaven Can Wait’?

Warren Beatty in 1978’s ‘Heaven Can Wait’. Photo: Paramount Pictures.

This story originated in a 1938 play by Harry Segall, which finds a boxer sent to Heaven by mistake, who argues that he should be sent back to Earth. Trouble is, his body has been cremated, so instead his soul is transported into the form of a pompous financier who is about to be murdered by his wife.

Director Alexander Hall, working from a script by Sidney Buchman and Seton I. Miller, was the first to adapt the play into a movie, 1941’s ‘Here Comes Mr. Jordan’.

Most famously, Warren Beatty directed and starred in his own adaptation, which restored the original title, but switched the main character to an NFL quarterback who dies prematurely due to an antsy angel and returns to Earth in the body of a recently murdered millionaire. Beatty directed the film with Buck Henry and co-wrote the script with Elaine May.

The result was nominated for nine Oscars including best picture, with the movie scoring a win for best art direction.

Most recently, Chris Rock took on the idea, starring in 2001’s ‘Down to Earth’, which saw the main character an aspiring black comic who gets a second shot at life by being placed in the body of a wealthy white businessman.

Who is making the new version of ‘Heaven Can Wait’?

George Clooney in ‘Syriana’. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Stephen Gaghan, who has written the likes of ‘Traffic’ and wrote and directed ‘Syriana’ (he probably wants to forget he was most recently responsible for the Robert Downey Jr.-starring ‘Dolittle’), is behind the script for the new version.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gaghan has found a new take on the story, though the basics –– a person gets a second chance after an unexpectedly early death –– remain intact.

What else is Glen Powell attached to?

Glenn Powell as Tyler, in ‘Twisters’ directed by Lee Isaac Chung.

Powell is producing and providing the introduction for documentary ‘The Blue Angels’ due on screens on May 23rd and will then be seen in disaster movie follow-up ‘Twisters’, out on July 19th.

He’s also on board for Edgar Wright’s adaptation of ‘The Running Man’ and John Lee Hancock’s based-on-truth legal drama ‘Monsanto’, among several others.