Harrison Ford often feels like he is drawn of iconography from the past. And perhaps he is drawn to the Call of the Wild. Hence why it only makes sense for him to now be in talks to star in a film literally adapting such a title from the classic Jack London story of the same name.
The Hollywood Reporter confirmed the news on Monday when it reported 20th Century Fox is in talks with the legendary Star Wars star to appear in a 2019 adaptation of London’s classic story about wolves, sled dogs, and the Gold Rush of Alaska and the Great White North. The film is being directed by Chris Sanders, who is making his first jump into live-action after co-directing How to Train Your Dragon and The Croods for DreamWorks Animation, which used to be partnered for a time exclusively with Fox.
The film is expected to begin filming later this year, presumably when it is a bit colder outside, and already has a Christmas Day release date penciled in for December 25th 2019 in the US..
Much like London’s other popular novel about dogs, wolves, and the men who own them, White Fang, The Call of the Wild is a 1903 novel focused on a canine in the land of snow and avarice. Unlike White Fang, the protagonist Buck is not a wolf, but a poor pup stolen from his home in warm and sunny Santa Clara, California and put to work as a sled dog in the Yukon, Canada. There he is used and abused by a series of human owners, as well as other dogs, slowly becoming more feral and dominantly alpha the further from civilization he travels. In the wilderness at the height of the Klondike Gold Rush, Buck will eventually answer his call of the wild.
The film is expected to use sophisticated computer generated imagery, as well as presumably real dogs to tell this story. In the film, Ford will play Jack Thornton, Buck’s final owner.