Jonathan Nolan’s 1871 Great Chicago Fire screenplay may soon have a director according to The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision. The film, titled Hell and Gone, is a “Titanic-like historical tragedy and love story” being set up by Warner Bros with producers Donald De Line (Green Lantern, Body of Lies) and Edward McDonnell (Insomnia, Three Kings) attached. Jonathan Nolan mentioned work on the screenplay back in 2006 during an interview for The Prestige, where it was described as a “revenge story set in the Chicago Fire.” Currently in negotiations to direct the project is J Blakeson, who made his directorial debut earlier this year with the The Disappearance of Alice Creed. Although it barely registered at the box office, the thriller received solid reviews from critics.
Hell and Gone marks Jonathan Nolan’s second screenplay that will not be directed by Christopher Nolan. The other, Interstellar, is a science fiction film based on Kip Thorne’s theories on gravity and wormholes and has Steven Speilberg in talks to direct.
