Despite a fascinating, showy life, the story of stuntman and showman Evel Knievel has proved frustratingly tough to crack on screen of late. Filmmakers and actors have come and gone, but now Paramount has hired Oscar-winning scriptwriter William Monahan to come up with a new screenplay, one the studio hopes might attract his Departed collaborator, one Martin Scorsese.
Known to his family as Robert Craig Knievel, Evel became a household name in the 1970s for his ambitious motorcycle jumps. Leaping across buses and anything else he could round up, he was known for his flashy patriotic outfits and the 433 bones he broke when several stunts went wrong. But despite liver troubles, he survived to 69, dying in 2007.
At least two movies have been made about him, one a 1971 effort called Evel Knievel that starred George Hamilton, the other 1977’s Viva Knievel! which featured Evel himself in the lead. Since then, things have been less successful, including abortive 2004 biopic Pure Evel, which at one point had McG directing and Matthew McConaughey considering the lead. And the Magic Mike connections continue with the most recent attempt, which saw Channing Tatum developing his own planned film with Darren Aronofsky circling the director’s chair.
But before visions of Team Departed reuniting for this one, the only solid element for now is Monahan, working from Sheldon Saltman’s book Evel Knievel On Tour, which attracted notoriety when a seriously angry Knievel attacked Saltman on the 20th Century Fox lot, broke his arm with a baseball bat and landed in legal hot water. Scorsese will keep track of the script as it develops, but has yet to make a firm decision yet. So we’d caution Leonardo DiCaprio to hold off on starting stunt training for now…