The new rule
of Fight Club is: Let’s Talk About Fight Club!
As many
already know, a sequel to Fight Club is in the works by author Chuck Palahniuk.
The fact that the sequel will be in the form of a graphic novel is an
intriguing choice. I'm really looking forward to seeing it in that format.
In a November interview with Hustler (of all places), Palahniuk gave
the first details on the project:“So much of FIGHT CLUB was a rant against fathers. At the time every man I knew was complaining about how little he’d learned from his father. Even my own father felt bitter and let down by his father. Rather than continue in that vein, I wanted to revisit the protagonist once he himself had become a father. Not coincidentally, my parents are both dead now, and I think that will force my story and I accept more responsibility.
The sequel
will be told from the– at first– submerged perspective of Tyler Durden as he
observes the day-to-day tedium of the narrator’s life. Because 20th Century-Fox
created the convention of calling the protagonist Jack, I’m calling him
Cornelius. He’s living a compromised life with a failing marriage, unsure about
his passion for his wife. The typical midlife bullshit. Likewise, Marla is
unsatisfied and dreams of accessing the wild man she’d once fallen in love
with. She tampers with the small pharmacy of drugs that her husband needs to
suppress Tyler, and– go figure– Tyler reemerges to terrorize their lives.”
So, Tyler shall emerge from
the depths of Jack / Cornelius’s psyche and the chaos will begin anew. Sounds
like it has potential. How will Marla react to this? Will she dig it, at least
at first? How will J/C regain control of his life? Will there be a new Project
Mayhem? Will Bob and his bitch tits return from the dead? His name was Robert
Paulson!
Slowly but surely we are
getting updates to the progress of the sequel. On his website yesterday, Palahniuk
released a progress report:
"The graphic novel "script" for the Fight Club sequel has gone off to the writer Matt Fraction and to an unnamed publisher for review. Matt writes his own series, called "Sex Criminals" and does very well. He's been my go-to advisor about format and other considerations of graphic scripts. I'll be choosing an illustrator based on their response to the script. The sequel will consist of seven issues, totally more than 210 pages. Fingers crossed." - Chuck
Fight Club is one of my all
time favorite films and books. It's not often that both versions hold up for
me. Too often I feel like film adaptations fall short of the books they're
based on. I'm looking forward to this
graphic novel like a fat kid waiting for Halloween but part of me hopes they do
not try to make another movie. The original is a masterpiece of anger and
frustration with society. I don’t want to see it cheapened by a sequel if it is
not up to par.
On the other hand if they can
get the entire band back together it may be too tempting to let it pass by.
David Fincher must direct again and Ed Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham
Carter have to be on board.
The prospects are equal parts
excitement and skepticism, but one thing is for sure, we are all happy to be
breaking the first rule of Fight Club!
- Brian Rohe