In what seems to be somewhat of a recurring theme on this blog, I bring you news of yet another book to film adaptation, and like Rachel’s tinge of worry over Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are, the upcoming film interpretation of Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test has me excited, and yet painfully worried.

When I first saw the headline: “The Ultimate Trip: Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test Heads to the Big Screen,” it initially made me cringe. Can’t Hollywood produce original material? But upon reading the article I was delighted to find that one of Hollywood’s most talented directors Gus Van Sant (of Milk and Good Will Hunting fame, as well as the spectacular Elephant) was attached to the project.

Alright … initial crisis averted. But, then what did I see but this:

Van Sant originally pictured the late Heath Ledger for the Kesey role, but now has two marquee names in mind: Woody Harrelson and Jack Black, which might make the film more of a comedy than a zany drug jag.

Might … might make the film more of a comedy? What the man, who brought the world such incredible characters as Nacho Libre and Shallow Hal, might do is turn this into a film that is unworthy of even going to see. Never have I been so upset about the death of Heath Ledger.

Now, I’ll concede that Gus Van Sant has surprised me before with performances he has gotten out of, shall we say, less than stellar acting talents (See: Ben Affleck and Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting). Whether Black ends up being the choice for the Kesey role or not (please no!), my faith has to lie with Gus Van Sant to capture the essence of not just Wolfe’s book, but also Kesey himself.