Fact -- Robert Downey Jr. is a badass.
So, who better to play a lock-picking, plane-flying, government-defying survivalist? No one, that's who.
Sony Pictures Entertainment just optioned the book Emergency!: This Book Will Save Your Life by author Neil Strauss, and Deadline reports that Downey is eyeing the lead role. He'll also produce with his wife and Team Downey partner Susan Downey as well as Michael De Luca.
In the nonfiction New York Times bestseller, Strauss is frustrated with the state of the world so he moves his family offshore to the island of St. Kitts. There, he gains citizenship and learns how to shoot guns, track animals, and basically just kick nature's ass. He's surrounded by lawyers and cult leaders who also left civilization, and he slowly begins to realize the absurdity of it all.
Honestly, this sounds like the role Downey was made to play. Well, except for maybe Iron Man. But still, this sounds like a really fun and yet potentially darkly comic film. Current go-to scribe Allan Loeb (21, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps) will pen the adaptation, but there's no director attached yet. No matter - Downey's interest will definitely bring some of the best in Hollywood forward. Be on the lookout for this one.
Source: Deadline