Walter Greatshell's "Terminal Island"

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Walter Greatshell's books include Xombies: Apocalypticon and Xombies: Apocalypse Blues.

Here he dreamcasts an adaptation of his latest novel, Terminal Island:

Hmm, if my book Terminal Island were to be made into a movie, there would be several important roles to fill:

First, the main character, Henry Cadmus, would require two actors, one representing him as a ten-year-old boy visiting the island for the first time with his enigmatic mother, and the other as a 40-year-old man returning there to track her down. The perfect actor to play the boy would have been Haley Joel Osment at the age he was when he made The Sixth Sense. Of course, Osment is too old now, but any boy cast for the role would have to achieve that same quality of alienation and wounded innocence.

The middle-aged Henry is a war veteran and devoted husband and father, who has repressed the traumas of his past and resents having to revisit them by returning to Catalina Island. The ideal actor for this role would be someone like Clive Owen, who captured the perfect mixture of dark humor and total desperation in the movie Children of Men. He’s the right age and the right look, and he has the physicality that the role would require.

For Henry’s offbeat wife, Ruby, an arts enthusiast with a toddler in one hand and an HD video camera in the other, a good choice would be someone who can project intelligence, irony, and a sneaky dark side. A couple of actresses who spring to mind are Olivia Williams (Rushmore), or Rebecca Hall (Vicki Christina Barcelona). For that matter, either one of them would also be perfect to play Henry’s mother in the flashback scenes. To play his more elderly mom in the present day scenes, I would love to see either Charlotte Rampling or Isabella Rossellini.

For the role of the hulking private detective, Carol Arbuthnot, someone with that same quality of physical menace would have to be cast—I’m thinking of Michael Chiklis, who already played a very similar Thing. But someone even bigger would be better, which leads me to think that the ultimate might be… Sylvester Stallone! But would he be willing to shave his head and be called Carol? If so, he’s the guy.

View the video trailer for Terminal Island, and visit Walter Greatshell's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: Terminal Island.

--Marshal Zeringue