The Unfilmable Ignatius J. Reilly: Hollywood’’s Failed Attempts to Adapt a Confederacy of Dunces

For more than 40 years, dozens of film directors, writers and producers tried and failed to adapt John Kennedy Toole’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel A Confederacy of Dunces. Along the way lawsuits were filed, filming locations destroyed, friendships shattered, reputations trashed, production companies bankrupted. Drawing on exclusive interviews, internal documents and private correspondence, this book tells the remarkable story of the non-making of A Confederacy of Dunces as a breathless and absurdist thriller. Celebrity appearances include John Belushi, Steven Soderbergh, Stephen Fry, Robin Williams, Warren Beatty and Harvey Weinstein, among others.

Stephan Eicke was editor-in-chief of the only European film music magazine, Cinema Musica. He co-founded the CD label Caldera Records, and has taught classes in Germany, the Netherlands and Africa. He lives in Germany.