It’s a big
day for Werner Herzog. It’s been announced that he’s reteaming with Zak
Penn for that guy’s second feature, another mockumentary (read about it
here) – now it’s been announced that he’s working on a new documentary
of his own.
The film will be about Timothy Treadwell, an
environmentalist who, along with his girlfriend, managed to get eaten
by a bear. There’s been rumblings of a narrative feature about
Treadwell, to star Leo DiCaprio and be called The Man Who Loved Grizzlies,
which is assuredly the worst title for any movie that is not about fat
hairy gay men. I don’t know what’s up with that feature, but Herzog’s
film will definitely hit first. Mainly because it’s already filming.
The movie, to be called Grizzly Man, will hit theaters this spring.
It’s the first film from Lion’s Gate’s new documentary division, which hopes to build on the astonishing success of Fahrenheit 9/11. The Discovery Channel is co-producing, and will get the documentary in the fall of 2005.
It’s
important to note that the last time Herzog worked with Penn there were
fake stories about him making a Loch Ness documentary that got planted
in the press. I’m not pointing any fingers here, just mentioning it.