Save The World Through Degeneracy: The Movie

A gallery of "Dunces."

Upon researching A Confederacy of Dunces, I became aware of the fact that there have been numerous attempts to bring John Kennedy Toole's novel to the big screen.

While I realize most film adaptations of books suck, perhaps it is because of the time that I spent in New Orleans (the story takes place in the city) and my amusement in the text that makes me wish they would bring Ignatius' inflated ego into cinemas and a bootleg DVD near me.

Different scripts for it have been drafted by Harold Ramis (he wrote and played Egon in Ghostbusters), Stephen Fry (British dude, he was in Blackadder, he wrote Bright Young Things), and Stephen Soderbergh (he wrote Sex, Lies, and Videotape). Apparently, John Belushi, John Candy, Chris Farley, and Will Ferrell, have all been considered, at one point or another, to play Ignatius J. Reilly. Will Ferrell "in a fat suit" would be a perfect Ignatius J. Reilly.

Richard Pryor and Mos Def were considered too, for the role of Burma Jones. I can only imagine Mr. Pryor's interpretation of Burma Jones' character. I dunno about Mos Def though. I mean he was aight in Be Kind, Rewind, but I'm kind of a Dave Chappelle stan.

Ferrell's version is probably the only one that ever came close to actually materializing. He performed a staged reading of Soderbergh's and Scott Kramer's script at the 2003 Nantucket Film Festival. Paul Rudd (Clueless, Knocked Up, most Judd Apatow flicks) played Officer Mancuso. Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler in X-Men) played Dorian Green. Mos Def was Burma Jones. Rosie Perez (Do The Right Thing, White Men Can't Jump) played Darlene. I shit you not. They have pictures.

Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd at a staged reading of A Confederacy of Dunces, which took place during the 2003 Nantucket Film Festival. (Credit: Stephen Lovekin, IGN)

This reincarnation was set to be filmed in 2005 with David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express) directing and Lily Tomlin (All Of Me) as Mrs. Reilly. Never happened though. Plans fell through when Katrina took a squat and shat on New Orleans.

The script… I loved it. We did a reading of it at the Nantucket Film Festival and people sat through a three hour reading with no break and loved every second of it and it was so cool to do. I think that’s such a big piece to tackle, that I think for a script, they didn’t have every single scene in the book, but it was a really nice effort, but I don’t know what to tell you. - Will Ferrell, in an interview with Ain't It Cool News.

Further Browsing:
• A Confederacy of Dunces: Film Adaptations [WikiPedia]
• Photos: Staged Reading of A Confederacy of Dunces [IGN]
• A Conspiracy of Dunces: Will John Kennedy Toole's comic masterpiece ever reach the big screen? [Slate]
• AICN Double-Teams Will Ferrell [Ain't It Cool News]