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‘The Things They Carried’: Tye Sheridan, Tom Hardy, Stephan James, Bill Skarsgard, Pete Davidson & Ashton Sanders Lead All-Star Vietnam War Movie — AFM Hot Pic

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Script adaptation comes from Oscar-nominated screenwriter Scott B. Smith ( A Simple Plan ), showrunner alongside Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy on Amazon’s upcoming series The Peripheral .

Blue chip firm MadRiver has boarded world sales rights and will launch the buzz title this week for the AFM ahead of a planned early 2021 shoot in Thailand. CAA Media Finance is arranging financing and will co-rep North American rights.

The project hails from Tom Hardy’s production outfit Hardy Son & Baker and LA-based production and rep firm MJZ with the latter’s David Zander ( Spring Breakers ) producing alongside Hardy and Dean Baker for Hardy Son & Baker ( Taboo ). Executive producer is Amy T. Hu of MJZ.

Pulitzer Prize-finalist O’Brien served in Vietnam in the late 1960s and his experiences course through his work. In The Things They Carried , which is often taught in middle schools and high schools across America, he tells the story of the young men of Alpha Company, a platoon of soldiers sent to fight on the ground during the War. Trekking from village to village amidst chaos and confusion, the young men struggle to navigate a growing labyrinth of physical, mental, and emotional terrains as they battle for the survival of their sanity, innocence, and each other.

The book won the 1990 National Book Critics Circle Award and has been named a New York Times Book of the Century. Stories within the collection have previously been adapted for stage and once for screen in the shape of 1998 movie A Soldier’s Sweetheart starring Kiefer Sutherland.

Producer Zander optioned the book from O’Brien and has been developing the project for a number of years.

“Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is his seminal masterwork – a raw, unflinching, and emotionally truthful literary experience filtered through a kaleidoscope of memory that’s impossible not to be profoundly moved by,” said HSB’s Hardy and Baker jointly. “We are all deeply passionate about and honoured to have the good fortune of working alongside Tim in bringing his vital classic to screen – and together with our incredible cast, Rupert, Scott, and David – we look forward to creating what we feel will be an important film.”

Sanders, who most recently directed Apple TV+’s upcoming drama series Foundation , said: “ The Things They Carried is a beautifully crafted work and one of the most viscerally evocative books I have ever read. For me, it transcends its subject of young men at war and explores the landscape of deep human emotions that reside within all of us. We live in such turbulent times, and the themes of love, fear, and mortality that Tim explored thirty years ago still resonate today, maybe even more powerfully. I am so excited about the cast we have put together – we have not seen this many young stars from different backgrounds sharing the screen since the days of Platoon or The Outsiders .”

MJZ’s Zander added: “ Things They Carried is a timeless tale about the human heart. It’s about fear and courage and friendship. It’s about growing up, about holding oneself together in the face of terrible events…or not holding oneself together at all. It’s about death. And how to live on in the aftermath of death. It’s about the weight of the things we all carry. Taught to an entire generation of American high school and university students, The Things They Carried has attained its stature precisely because it’s about so much more than the war — in the same way that To Kill A Mockingbird is about so much more than life in the Jim Crow South, or The Great Gatsby is about so much more than the Roaring Twenties. The handful of books that become rites of passage in the American educational system are chosen because they speak to universal questions, and The Things They Carried stands shoulder to shoulder with them. I am so thankful to Tim for entrusting me to bring this important work to the screen.”

Sanders is repped by CAA, Grandview, Independent Talent Group, and Goodman Genow. Smith is repped by ICM, Circle of Confusion, and Behr Abramson Levy. David Zander is repped by Eric Harbert and Amy T. Hu. Hardy Son & Baker is repped by Range Media Partners, CAA and Sloane Offer Weber & Dern. Sheridan is repped by WME, Mosaic and Goodman Genow. James is repped CAA, Noble Caplan Abrams, Range Media Partners, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman. Skarsgård is repped by WME, Magnolia Entertainment, and Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum.

Davidson is repped by ICM Partners, Brillstein Entertainment Partners, and Granderson Des Rochers. A. Sanders is repped by Hyperion and Felker Toczek Suddleson. Arias is repped by KMR Talent and Myman Greenspan Fox. Sensmeier is repped by UTA and Hines and Hunt Entertainment. Cloud is repped by WME, Anonymous Content, and Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum. O’Brien is repped by CAA.

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The Things They Carried Movie: What We Know

the things they carried tim o'brien movie trailer release date cast adaptation

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a classic Vietnam War novel that’s being adapted into a star-studded movie. For all the details on the upcoming film, here’s what we know about The Things They Carried movie adaptation:

What’s it about? What’s the plot?

From Wikipedia: “The Things They Carried (1990) is a collection of linked short stories by American novelist Tim O’Brien, about a platoon of American soldiers fighting on the ground in the Vietnam War. His third book about the war, it is based upon his experiences as a soldier in the 23rd Infantry Division.”

What format will it be? Will The Things They Carried adaptation be a Movie or a Series?

It’s planned as a feature movie .

Who’s behind it?

Rupert Sanders (Snow White And The Huntsman) has been tapped to direct a star-studded cast in this adaptation of a classic Vietnam War story. The script has been penned by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Scott B. Smith (A Simple Plan).

What’s the status of The Things They Carried adaptation?

The adaptation is fully underway. As of January 2021, it’s currently in pre-production, and they plan to begin shooting early 2021 in Thailand.

Who’s in the cast?

A number of big names are already attached to this adaptation, including:

Tom Hardy Bill Skarsgård Tye Sheridan Pete Davidson

See the full cast on IMDB .

When will it be released?

Currently unknown.

Is there a trailer or teaser available?

Not yet! Stay tuned.

The Things They Carried Movie Development Timeline

March 28, 1990 The Things They Carried (novel) is released.

November 2, 2020 ‘The Things They Carried’: Tye Sheridan, Tom Hardy, Stephan James, Bill Skarsgard, Pete Davidson & Ashton Sanders Lead All-Star Vietnam War Movie — AFM Hot Pic

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The Things They Carried movie recruits all-star cast: Tom Hardy, Pete Davidson, Stephan James, more

Christian Holub is a writer covering comics and other geeky pop culture. He's still mad about 'Firefly' getting canceled.

One of the most popular American books about the Vietnam War is becoming a movie, and it has recruited an all-star cast to do so. EW has confirmed that Tom Hardy ( Mad Max: Fury Road ), Pete Davidson ( The King of Staten Island ), Stephan James ( If Beale Street Could Talk ), Bill Skarsgard ( It ), Tye Sheridan ( X-Men: Apocalypse ), Ashton Sanders ( Moonlight ), Martin Sensmeier ( The Magnificent Seven ), Moises Arias ( Monos ), and Angus Cloud ( Euphoria ) will play the men of "Alpha Company" in the upcoming adaptation of Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried . Rupert Sanders ( Snow White And The Huntsman ) is set to direct. Deadline was first to report the news.

First published in 1990, The Things They Carried has since become a staple of assigned reading in American high schools. It is less a novel than a collection of short stories; the first shares the same title as the book and is sometimes anthologized independently. While that story is a realistic description of the things each soldier is carrying into the battle and what they signify, several others in the collection play more with the boundary between fantasy and reality. "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong," for instance, tells the surreal story of one of the soldiers flying his girlfriend in to Vietnam to help the troops with domestic tasks, only for her to eventually assimilate into Vietnamese culture and disappear into the jungle with a necklace of human tongues. It's unknown yet how many or which stories will be adapted in the film.

The Things They Carried is being produced by Hardy's Hardy Son & Baker outfit alongside MJZ.

“ Things They Carried is a timeless tale about the human heart. It’s about fear and courage and friendship. It’s about growing up, about holding oneself together in the face of terrible events…or not holding oneself together at all. It’s about death. And how to live on in the aftermath of death. It’s about the weight of the things we all carry," MJZ's David Zander ( Spring Breakers ) said in a statement. "Taught to an entire generation of American high school and university students, The Things They Carried has attained its stature precisely because it’s about so much more than the war — in the same way that To Kill A Mockingbird is about so much more than life in the Jim Crow South, or The Great Gatsby is about so much more than the Roaring Twenties. The handful of books that become rites of passage in the American educational system are chosen because they speak to universal questions, and The Things They Carried stands shoulder to shoulder with them. I am so thankful to Tim for entrusting me to bring this important work to the screen.”

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News, Notes, Talk

The Things They Carried is finally being adapted for film (and the cast is insane).

Since its publication in 1990, Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried , a linked collection of semi-autobiographical short stories about the Vietnam War, has become a modern classic—in fact, its title story is the most frequently anthologized piece of short fiction in the last three decades, and it’s still frequently taught in classrooms, a fact which surprised O’Brien. “I had imagined an audience of literate people on subways and going to work and in their homes reading the book,” he said in a 2010 interview . “But I certainly hadn’t imagined 14-year-old kids and 18-year-olds and those even in their early-20s reading the book and bringing such fervor to it, which comes from their own lives, really. The book is applied to a bad childhood or a broken home, and these are the things they’re carrying. And in a way, it’s extremely flattering, and other times, it can be depressing.”

Which is only to say that it’s a little surprising that the National Book Critics Circle Award winner hasn’t been made into a film before now (though it has been a play, and one of the stories was made into a Kiefer Sutherland movie in the 90s). Still, looks like we’re going to make up for lost time: as Deadline reports, the newly-announced feature adaptation, directed by Rupert Sanders and written by Scott B. Smith ( A Simple Plan ), will feature an absolutely star-studded cast, including Tom Hardy (whose production company is also behind the film), Bill Skarsgård (the edgy Skarsgård), Pete Davidson, Ashton Sanders, Tye Sheridan, Stephan James, Moises Arias, Martin Sensmeier, and Angus Cloud.

“Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is his seminal masterwork—a raw, unflinching, and emotionally truthful literary experience filtered through a kaleidoscope of memory that’s impossible not to be profoundly moved by,” said Tom Hardy’s production outfit in na statement. “We are all deeply passionate about and honored to have the good fortune of working alongside Tim in bringing his vital classic to screen—and together with our incredible cast, Rupert, Scott, and David—we look forward to creating what we feel will be an important film.”

For his part, Rupert Sanders said that “ The Things They Carried is a beautifully crafted work and one of the most viscerally evocative books I have ever read. For me, it transcends its subject of young men at war and explores the landscape of deep human emotions that reside within all of us. We live in such turbulent times, and the themes of love, fear, and mortality that Tim explored thirty years ago still resonate today, maybe even more powerfully. I am so excited about the cast we have put together—we have not seen this many young stars from different backgrounds sharing the screen since the days of Platoon or The Outsiders .”

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The iconic Vietnam War novel ‘The Things They Carried’ is getting a film with a star-studded cast

By Jared Keller

Posted on Nov 2, 2020 5:53 PM EST

4 minute read

We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs.

One of the most visceral and beloved collections of short stories about the Vietnam War is getting adapted into a new movie with a star-studded cast.

Tom Hardy will embrace his third major military role after Black Hawk Down and Dunkirk as he leads an ensemble cast in The Things They Carried , a new movie based on Pultizer Prize-finalist Tim O’Brien’s short story collection of the same name about his experiences during Vietnam, Deadline reports .

Producer David Zander, best known for Spring Breakers, had previously optioned the book from O’Brien, who has been working alongside Zander, Hardy, and the latter’s production partner Dean Baker to develop the work for the big screen.

As Deadline notes , stories within O’Brien’s award-winning collection were previously adapted for the screen in 1998’s A Soldier’s Sweetheart starring Kiefer Sutherland.

“We are all deeply passionate about and honored to have the good fortune of working alongside Tim in bringing his vital classic to screen – and together with our incredible cast, Rupert, Scott, and David – we look forward to creating what we feel will be an important film.”

The proposed cast currently includes Stephen James, Tye Sheridan, Bill Skarsgard, Pete Davidson, Ashton Sanders, Moises Arias, and Angus Cloud as the men of ‘Alpha Company,’ the fictional unit based on soldiers from the Army’s 23rd Infantry Division.

While casting remains unclear, it’s likely that Hardy will play Lt. Jimmy Cross, the leader of Alpha Company who, in the book’s titular short story, carries a physical reminder of his unrequited love at home until the death of a squad member leads him to burn the emotional distraction (O’Brien himself is written into the story as a soldier under Cross’s command).

The Things They Carried is legendary among readers of military history and fiction not just for its ubiquitous presence on American school reading syllabi, but for its staunchly apolitical focus on the lived experiences of American soldiers as they fought their way through the jungles of Vietnam, part of O’Brien’s effort to educate the unknowing public at home to the realities of the conflict there.

But the book’s power is nestled in the contrast between the mundanities of war — the things that troops carry, for example — and the larger questions of military service, something beautifully captured in a contemporary review of The Things They Carried upon the book’s publication in 1990:

In the title story, Mr. O’Brien juxtaposes the mundane and the deadly items that soldiers carry into battle. Can openers, pocketknives, wristwatches, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, matches, sewing kits, C rations are ”humped” by the G.I.’s along with M-16 assault rifles, M-60 machine guns, M-79 grenade launchers. But the story is really about the other things the soldiers ”carry”: ”grief, terror, love, longing . . . shameful memories” and, what unifies all the stories, ”the common secret of cowardice.” These young men, Mr. O’Brien tells us, ”carried the soldier’s greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to.” Embarrassment, the author reveals in ”On the Rainy River,” is why he, or rather the fictional version of himself, went to Vietnam. He almost went to Canada instead. What stopped him, ironically, was fear. ”All those eyes on me,” he writes, ”and I couldn’t risk the embarrassment. . . . I couldn’t endure the mockery, or the disgrace, or the patriotic ridicule. . . . I was a coward. I went to the war.”

“ The Things They Carried is a timeless tale about the human heart,” said producer Zander in a statement. It’s about fear and courage and friendship. It’s about growing up, about holding oneself together in the face of terrible events…or not holding oneself together at all. It’s about death. And how to live on in the aftermath of death. It’s about the weight of the things we all carry.”

While details on the release of the production remain murky due to a variety of factors (including the ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic), Hardy and company reportedly plan to start shooting The Things They Carried in Thailand beginning in “early 2021.”

[ Buy The Things They Carried on Amazon now ]

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'The Things They Carried' Is Finally Getting a Movie and the Cast Looks Amazing

Tye Sheridan Tom Hardy The Things They Carried

This Vietnam Book Classic Is Finally Getting a Movie and the Cast Looks Amazing

Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" is one of the very best books ever written about war. The collection of linked short stories about the Vietnam War was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, won a National Book Award upon publication in 1990 and its reputation has only grown over the past 30 years.

"The Things They Carried" is also now a stand text in middle and high school literature classes and more than a few college history courses. And it's finally being turned into a movie with filming set to begin in Thailand in early 2021.

The film has an incredibly deep roster of impressive young talent, headlined by Oscar nominee Tom Hardy ("Mad Max: Fury Road," "Inception," "Dunkirk") whose production company is behind the film. He'll be joined by Tye Sheridan ("Ready Player One"), Stephan James ("21 Bridges," John Lewis in "Selma"), Bill Skarsgård (Pennywise in the "It" movies, "Atomic Blonde"), Ashton Sanders ("The Equalizer 2," "If Beale Street Could Talk"), Martin Sensmeier (HBO's "Westworld," "Yellowstone"), Moises Arias ("Ender's Game," "The King of Staten Island") and Angus Cloud (HBO's "Euphoria").

That's an impressive line-up of up-and-coming talent, and not the kind of cast this kind of independent movie can afford to pay. There are some great parts in these stories, though, and most of these guys are young enough that they might have read the book in school.

Oh, and let's not forget the King of Staten Island himself, Pete Davidson. Looks like Pete will be asking for more time off from "Saturday Night Live" to film a part in this movie. Pete pretty much embodies a certain kind of screw-up that has existed in almost every unit back to the beginning of warfare, so this seems like a good move for everyone.

The screenplay was written by Scott B. Smith, Oscar-nominated for the 1998 heist classic "A Simple Plan" and most recently credited with the underrated noir "The Burnt Orange Heresy." Rupert Sanders ("Snow White & the Huntsman," Apple TV+'s upcoming mega-series adaptation of Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" novels) will direct.

Sanders said in a press release,"'The Things They Carried' is a beautifully crafted work and one of the most viscerally evocative books I have ever read. For me, it transcends its subject of young men at war and explores the landscape of deep human emotions that reside within all of us. We live in such turbulent times, and the themes of love, fear, and mortality that Tim explored thirty years ago still resonate today, maybe even more powerfully. I am so excited about the cast we have put together -- we have not seen this many young stars from different backgrounds sharing the screen since the days of 'Platoon' or 'The Outsiders.'"

The stories in O'Brien's book follow the young men of Alpha Company before, during and after their tour of duty in Vietnam. Somehow, a middle-aged veteran was still in touch with the perspective and emotions that young men confront as they go to war and millions of readers credit the author with bringing that experience to life.

All the ingredients for a great war movie are present in these stories. The producers have attracted a very strong group of actors to a low-budget project, so let's take that as a sign that people who've read the screenplay think it's a winner.

Fingers crossed for 2022 in hopes that a classic book gets the movie it deserves.

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Tom Hardy, Pete Davidson, Stephan James Join Vietnam War Drama ‘The Things They Carried’

By Dave McNary

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Tom Hardy , Pete Davidson , Stephan James , Bill Skarsgård, Tye Sheridan, Ashton Sanders, Martin Sensmeier, Moises Arias and Angus Cloud have been cast in the Vietnam War drama “ The Things They Carried .”

The project is based on Tim O’Brien’s book about a platoon of young soldiers and their experiences on the front lines during the Vietnam War. Published in 1990, the novel based on O’Brien’s experiences as a soldier in the 23rd Infantry Division. In the short stories, the young men in a platoon of American soldiers sent to fight on the ground during the Vietnam War find themselves amidst chaos and confusion as they battle for their sanity and each other. The book explores the themes of fear, courage, guilt and loss.

Rupert Sanders will direct from a script adapted by Scott B. Smith. Producers are David Zander of MJZ and Hardy and Dean Baker of Hardy Son & Baker. The film’s executive producer is Amy T. Hu of MJZ.

MadRiver Intl. will handle worldwide sales at the upcoming virtual American film Market, which opens Nov. 9. The company is co-repping North American rights with CAA Media Finance, which is also arranging financing. Production is due to commence in early 2021 in Thailand.

Popular on Variety

Sanders is repped by CAA, Grandview, Independent Talent Group, and Goodman Genow. Smith is repped by CAA, Circle of Confusion, and Behr Abramson Levy. David Zander is repped by Eric Harbert and Amy T. Hu. Hardy Son & Baker is repped by Range Media Partners, CAA and Sloane Offer Weber & Dern. O’Brien is repped by CAA. Sheridan is repped by WME, Mosaic and Goodman Genow. James is repped CAA, Noble Caplan Abrams, Range Media Partners, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman. The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.

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Tom hardy & bill skarsgard lead all-star cast of vietnam war drama.

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Tom Hardy and Bill Skarsgard lead the all-star cast for the Vietnam War drama The Things They Carried . Published in 1990, the short story collection The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien followed a platoon of soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War in the 1960s. The book went on to sell over 2 million copies and was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.

Movies set in the Vietnam War of course were considered box office poison for many years, until the mid-1980s when films like Full Metal Jacket , Hamburger Hill and especially Oliver Stone ’s Oscar-winner Platoon opened the floodgates on filmmakers addressing the controversial conflict. Earlier this year, Spike Lee tackled the war in his own unique way in Da 5 Bloods , which followed a group of former soldiers as they returned to Vietnam seeking to bury their demons and find a stash of lost gold. By and large however, Vietnam continues to be a neglected war when it comes to Hollywood depiction, as the industry seems much more comfortable celebrating World War 2 rather than tackling the moral ambiguities inherent in the later conflict, which claimed the lives of over 58,000 American soldiers.

Related: James Bond 26: 007 Needs A New Q (Especially If Tom Hardy Is Cast)

But there is at least one high-profile Vietnam project upcoming as The Things They Carried is set to become a movie from director Rupert Sanders and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Scott B. Smith. The ensemble cast already assembled for the film is impressive to say the least, headed up by Hardy and Skarsgard, with Hardy also on board as one of the producers (via Deadline ). The cast also includes Tye Sheridan, Stephan James, Pete Davidson , Ashton Sanders, Martin Sensmeier, Moises Arias and Angus Cloud.

Hardy of course is no stranger to playing men of violence, after his performances in everything from Mad Max: Fury Road to The Dark Knight Rises to the series Taboo . Hardy also has experience in combat-related films after his (largely masked) performance as a fighter pilot in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk , as well as early appearances in Black Hawk Down and Band of Brothers . Skarsgard obviously has experience with horror of a different sort, having played Pennywise the killer clown in the two IT movies. Sheridan meanwhile is best known for his performance as Cyclops in the X-Men movies, while long-time SNL cast member Davidson is coming off an acclaimed performance in Judd Apatow’s The King of Staten Island .

The all-star cast for The Things They Carried is indeed reminiscent of the ensemble Stone assembled for his 1986 masterwork Platoon , which boasted such names as Willem Dafoe, Tom Berenger, Johnny Depp , Charlie Sheen, Forest Whitaker and Tony Todd. It remains to be seen if the new film will have the same impact Stone’s did when it became a surprise box office hit while winning four Oscars including Best Picture, but the source material is no doubt powerful, and the cast for The Things They Carried is definitely talented enough to bring that material to searing life on the screen.

More: Tom Hardy’s Capone MADE UP Backstory: Was The Second Son Real?

Source: Deadline

Exclusive: Rupert Sanders to Direct Vietnam War Movie 'The Things They Carried'

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Rupert Sanders is set to direct the Vietnam War movie The Things They Carried , based on the acclaimed collection of linked short stories by Tim O'Brien , who drew on his own experiences as a soldier in the 23rd Infantry Division.

The Things They Carried follows a platoon of American soldiers fighting on the ground in the Vietnam War. It was O'Brien's third book about the war, one he wrote in response to what he considered ignorance surrounding the war, and it wound up becoming a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. One of O'Brien's stories, "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong," was previously made into the 1998 film in A Soldier's Sweetheart starring Kiefer Sutherland .

Sanders is hosting a table read in LA this week, according to sources, and he's currently working with casting director Carmen Cuba to find his young ensemble, as production could start as soon as this summer in Vietnam.

David Zander ( Spring Breakers ) will produce The Things They Carried for MJZ and Scott B. Smith ( A Simple Plan ) wrote the script, having just worked with Zander on the indie thriller The Burnt Orange Heresy starring Claes Bang , Elizabeth Debicki and Donald Sutherland .

Sanders made his feature directorial debut with Snow White and the Huntsman , which starred Kristen Stewart , Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron , and grossed nearly $400 million worldwide en route to spawning a sequel. Sanders most recently directed the live-action Ghost in the Shell movie ($169 million worldwide) starring Scarlett Johansson , who planned to re-team with the director on the controversial drama Rub & Tug , though she ultimately exited the project following outcry from members of the trans community who opposed her casting as trans crime kingpin Dante 'Tex' Gill .

According to IMDb, Sanders is also developing a film about the early days of the DEA, as well as a sci-fi take on Gillo Pontecorvo 's 1966 film The Battle of Algiers . He's represented by CAA and Independent Talent Group, while MJZ serves as his commercial agent.

In addition to adapting his own novel A Simple Plan for director Sam Raimi , Smith also adapted his book The Ruins for DreamWorks and wrote last year's Keanu Reeves movie Siberia . He's represented by CAA and Circle of Confusion.

ghost-in-the-shell-scarlett-johansson-social

Rupert Sanders

'The Things They Carried' Movie Coming From 'Ghost In The Shell' Director Rupert Sanders

The Things They Carried , a book I'm sure many of us read in a high school Lit class, is getting the big screen treatment. Rupert Sanders , director of Snow White and the Huntsman and the ill-received live-action Ghost in the Shell , will direct a film based on Tim O'Brien 's book of short stories about the Vietnam War. Scott B. Smith , author (and screenplay adapter) of both A Simple Plan and The Ruins , will tackle the script. Collider has the scoop on The Things They Carried movie. Tim O'Brien's book was inspired by his own experiences in Vietnam, and Sanders hopes to find a young cast to bring O'Brien's stories to life. Since the book is really a series of interconnected stories, there's not one main synopsis to work with, but here is what the bulk of the book is about :

The protagonist, who is named Tim O'Brien, begins by describing an event that occurred in the middle of his Vietnam experience. "The Things They Carried" catalogs the variety of things his fellow soldiers in the Alpha Company brought on their missions. Several of these things are intangible, including guilt and fear, while others are specific physical objects, including matches, morphine, M- 16 rifles, and M&M's candy.

O'Brien wrote several books about Vietnam, but The Things They Carried is arguably the most well-known, having been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. It's not clear if Sanders will be using all the stories in the book, some of them, or just the titular tale. One of the book's stories, "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong", was previously adapted into the 1998 TV film A Soldier's Sweetheart , starring Kiefer Sutherland and Skeet Ulrich.

Vietnam is a subject Hollywood has gone to countless times, but there's definitely room here to craft a great ensemble drama. I don't know if Sanders as director inspires much enthusiasm, since his Snow White film is mostly forgotten, and no one cared for his Americanized Ghost in the Shell adaptation. But having Scott B. Smith handle the script is promising. Smith's adaptation of his own A Simple Plan resulted in one of Sam Raimi's best movies.

Production on The Things They Carried movie could start as early as this summer in Vietnam.

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The Things They Carried

The story of the young men of Alpha Company, a platoon of soldiers sent to fight on the ground during the Vietnam War. Trekking from village to village amidst chaos and confusion, the young men struggle to navigate a growing labyrinth of physical, mental, and emotional terrains as they battle for the survival of their sanity, innocence, and each other. An adaptation of Tim O'Brien's book of the same name.

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'The Things They Carried' Is Finally Getting a Movie and the Cast Looks Amazing

This Vietnam Book Classic Is Finally Getting a Movie and the Cast Looks Amazing

Fingers crossed for 2022 in hopes that a classic book gets the movie it deserves.

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The Things They Carried (2021)

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Director Rupert Sanders is set to direct The Things They Carried, which is based on Tim O'Brien's 1990 book. Starring Tom Hardy and Pete Davidson.

The Things They Carried

The film is an ensemble project without a true lead, and it’s based on O’Brien’s stories of a platoon of soldiers during Vietnam and their experience on the front lines.

Vietnam War Drama The Things They Carried Lines Up A-List Ensemble Cast

Director Rupert Sanders is set to direct The Things They Carried, which is based on Tim O'Brien's 1990 book.

The Things They Carried

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The Things They Carried: Tom Hardy, Tye Sheridan & More to Star in Vietnam War Film

By Maggie Dela Paz

According to Deadline , Oscar-nominated actor Tom Hardy ( Mad Max: Fury Road ) and Golden Globe nominee Stephan James ( If Beale Street Could Talk ) have signed on along with Tye Sheridan ( Ready Player One ), Bill Skarsgard ( It ), and Pete Davidson ( The King of Staten Island ) to star in Rupert Sanders’ upcoming Vietnam war film titled The Things They Carried . In addition, Moonlight star Ashton Sanders, Moises Arias ( Monos ), Angus Cloud ( Euphoria ), and Martin Sensmeier ( The Magnificent Seven ) have also joined the ensemble cast.

“Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is his seminal masterwork – a raw, unflinching, and emotionally truthful literary experience filtered through a kaleidoscope of memory that’s impossible not to be profoundly moved by,” producers HSB’s Hardy and Dean Baker said in a statement. “We are all deeply passionate about and honoured to have the good fortune of working alongside Tim in bringing his vital classic to screen – and together with our incredible cast, Rupert, Scott, and David – we look forward to creating what we feel will be an important film.”

RELATED: Women In The Castle: Daisy Ridley, Kristin Scott Thomas & Nina Hoss to Star in World War II Drama

The Things They Carried will be based on Tim O’Brien’s acclaimed collection of Vietnam War stories which centers around a platoon of young soldiers and their experiences on the front lines. The film will be directed by Rupert Sanders from a screenplay adapted by Oscar nominee Scott B. Smith.

Pick up a copy of the book here!

Its official book synopsis reads: “The Things They Carried depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and of course, the character Tim O’Brien who has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three. They battle the enemy (or maybe more the idea of the enemy), and occasionally each other. In their relationships we see their isolation and loneliness, their rage and fear. They miss their families, their girlfriends and buddies; they miss the lives they left back home. Yet they find sympathy and kindness for strangers (the old man who leads them unscathed through the mine field, the girl who grieves while she dances), and love for each other, because in Vietnam they are the only family they have. We hear the voices of the men and build images upon their dialogue. The way they tell stories about others, we hear them telling stories about themselves.”

First published in 1990, one of the book’s stories titled “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” was first adapted into a film in 1998 where it starred Kiefer Sutherland and Skeet Ulrich.

RELATED: Pete Davidson & O’Shea Jackson Jr. to Lead American Sole

The film is produced by Tom Hardy and Dean Baker through their Hardy Son & Baker banner along with MJZ’s David Zander. It will also executive produced by Amy T. Y Hu of MJZ. Production is expected to begin early next year in Thailand.

(Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images & Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)

Maggie Dela Paz has been writing about the movie and TV industry for more than four years now. Besides being a fan of coming-of-age films and shows, she also enjoys watching K-Dramas and listening to her favorite K-Pop groups. Her current TV obsessions right now are FX’s The Bear and the popular anime My Hero Academia.

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The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien | Parent Guide & Review

This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on a link and decide to buy, I make a small commission for referring you. This helps me make a few cents for doing what I love.

Note: This post about The Things They Carried was written while I was filled with a lot of passion and wasn’t written from an objective perspective. After reading through it again, I know there are spots where I let my feelings speak more than they ought. I’m not changing what I’ve previously written, however, I added four sections towards the end based on a comment I received after someone read this very article.

I would love to hear more of your comments and thoughts about this book. Please either leave a comment at the end of the post or send me a message, and I will respond.

Disclosure: I am an Amazon affiliate. If you click on a link and decide to buy something, I will get pennies for referring you. This in no way changes the price for you. It just helps me make a bit for doing what I love.

High School Horrors

The first time I read The Things They Carried, I was seventeen and a junior in high school. It was for an American Literature class that I was able to earn college credit for. That year I learned about American history in my Advanced Placement United States History class and the cultural shifts in my American Literature class. I remember that class being really cool to see history from a facts and numbers point of view and to jump into the cultural aspect by reading a book.

When we started the unit about the Vietnam War, this is the book we started in my English class. I hated reading this book and any other books assigned for class. None of the books were relevant to me and I didn’t want to read any of the books. If the only exposure I had to books was from my high school English classes, I wouldn’t have read a book after high school. I didn’t like reading any of the books they assigned. Occasionally I liked dissecting the book afterward and some of the activities but always hated the actual reading part. I love fantasy or books set in the medieval age with knights and strong women.

I Hated The Things They Carried at Seventeen

soldier walking on wooden pathway surrounded with barbwire selective focus photography

The Things They Carried is not about a young woman running away to become a knight. Nor is it about mythical beasts or magic. Instead, it is about a young man’s experiences fighting a war in Vietnam. It is full of tales of walking through rice patties hoping you don’t step on a land mine. There are accounts of men fantasizing about what to do when the war is over. It is a work of fiction, but it reads like a memoir and a loose collection of short stories and disjointed events. The Things They Carried is not a cohesive novel with an arc, and it doesn’t read like a typical story. That being said, I hate it.

Yep, I’m going to say that again and embrace it. I hate this book. Not very many books make me say that about very many of them, but this one stuck with me. I remember it having terrible language, lots of graphic scenes from the war, and not being my cup of tea.

Having Second Thoughts

Later in college, this book got brought up a couple of times. I decided that maybe The Things They Carried couldn’t be nearly as bad I remembered it. Right? So maybe, now with my higher learning and appreciation for literature, I would like The Things They Carried. Maybe, I would even rant and rave about it, like my high school teacher used to.

I forgot about my desire to read the book for a time until I joined a couple of Facebook groups dedicated to books. A couple of people were talking it up and saying how good it was. Also, it was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize which is like a Nobel Prize for books! So I decided that I probably really should read it again. But, I put it off yet again because of terrible memories and having plenty of other books to fill my time.

I Finally Read it Again… Well, started.

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So fast-forward to a few months ago. I received a text from my mom asking which book my younger sisters should read in their high school literature class. Guess what… The Things They Carried was on that list. I obviously did not recommend it, but I also checked it out from the library. I wanted to actually reread it and have a better reason than “I hated it in high school.”

I’ve had this book for about two months and only read 70 pages out of 260. I would read a little bit. Then put it on pause and read about 5 other books before talking myself into reading a few more pages. At this point, I’ve decided to give up reading it and stop torturing myself with a book I don’t like and probably never will.

Reasons Why I Still Hate The Things They Carried

The Things They Carried is even worse than I remembered it from High School! In the first 70 pages, the f-word occurs seven times plus fifteen other uses of profanity. Yes, students hear language like this on a daily basis walking the halls of a high school, but it is also against the rules and can get individuals in detention. If you could get in trouble for reading your school book out loud in the hallways, it probably shouldn’t be taught at school either.

This book has a lot of very graphic scenes in it as well. Things I don’t want in my head as an adult, let alone when I was seventeen. In the first 70 pages, there are multiple graphic deaths from a gunshot wound and a land mine. These death scenes had very detailed descriptions of the individuals, and it isn’t pretty. Plus, some very gruesome descriptions of working at a meatpacking plant as a “de-clotter,” an individual who sprays aged pig corpses with a high-powered hose to remove blood clots. This sounds terrible, but the way the meat plant was described is more graphic and gag-inducing than the war scenes.

Another thing that turned me off of this book was the adult content. None of it is explicit, however, there are plenty of innuendos. There are a few short sentences scattered throughout about soldiers on leave spending the weekend in bed. Or in another instance, they are stuck out in the middle of nowhere, wishing they were spending time in bed. In either case, I don’t want to know about it. Especially, as a seventeen-year-old.

A Semi-Redeeming Quote to Show Off the Writing Style

“They carried the soldier’s greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to. It was what had brought them to the war in the first place, nothing positive, no dreams of glory or honor, just to avoid the blush of dishonor. They died so as not to die of embarrassment. Tim o’brien, The Things They Carried

Why Teachers Still Teach It

woman wearing gray blazer writing on dry erase board

Now that I’m a little older, and know more about literature, I appreciate how beautiful the writing is. I really enjoyed some of the parts of the book, but it was the writing style than the content. Stylistically it is beautiful! There are many themes and motifs woven through. Plus, the whole vignette and jumping around on the timeline is done very well. It may not be the typical timeline type of book, but the pieces he places where he does is a work of art. That is the only redeeming thing about this book, and why a teacher might consider teaching this to a class of high schoolers. This book was written for adults, not teens, and it isn’t appropriate for mature teenagers.

Better Alternatives to The Things They Carried

woman reading book with hot drink at home

There are many other beautifully written books without bad content. Three books come to mind. None of these are focused on the Vietnam War, but they are similar stylistically to The Things They Carried. These books are To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson, and Gilead also by Marilynne Robinson.

Gilead won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005 and a National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. So essentially it is a really good book. There is slim to no language. I can’t remember any adult content and slim to no graphic content. Instead, it is about spiritual battles and the connections that happen between generations. Some teachers may feel like they are opening up a whole new can of worms by introducing religion into the mix. Honestly, I prefer a book with a little religion any day over a gritty war scene where someone blows up a puppy for fun. (Yes, that does happen in The Things They Carried. I couldn’t believe it when I read it either.)

Additional Thoughts about The Things They Carried

An individual recently reached out to me with the opinion that The Things They Carried should be required reading for any voter prior to casting their first vote. This individual has been in the middle of a war zone multiple times. They made some very compelling points about how many of the high schoolers reading this book about war will be in the middle of a war zone very soon. They also wanted teenagers and adults to understand the “physical and emotional catastrophe there’re in for” when those in power call for “boots on the ground.”

The individual made a very compelling argument. These high schoolers will be voting in the next year or two for the politicians making these decisions, and voters should be informed of the consequences. They need to know what kind of situation they are asking their friends, family, and other peers to go into, and what those loved ones will face.

Fiction vs Reality

When I read this as a sixteen-year-old I didn’t make that connection between the world of a book and reality. That may have been the fault of my teacher or my own naivety. I think books are a great place to explore hard things and can lead to great discussions and self-reflection about difficult topics like war.

However, I worry about the harm of such an exposure too and I feel like this is a personal choice that each parent and child have to come to together. Reading a book about war has a similar effect on the brain as physically experiencing such things. Obviously, it isn’t the exact same but the brain cannot tell the difference between something happening in a book and something happening in reality.

The Price of Understanding

Do I want them to understand how terrible war is? Yes. I want them to understand what it means to be at war. These future voters should understand what those weapons are capable of and the consequences of their votes. They need to understand how those votes impact the lives of millions of people. It impacts those who are currently serving, those who have in the past, and those who didn’t come home.

However, that understanding comes with a price. I want the mental and emotional scarring, and maturity that comes with learning, to be a choice and not something thrust upon the reader or required. That sounds naive and childish, but we are talking about children who are turning into adults.

I believe that every experience we go through, every book read, every YouTube video watched, irrevocably changes us into someone new. We are different because of the new information and new experiences, even if those are fictional experiences. I give my recommendations and insights to allow each of you to make a more informed decision about the books you read. Some of the books I’ve read have given me invisible scarring. Is it the same as actually going to war and coming home changed? No, but I want each of you to have the choices that I didn’t.

My Recommendations

So long story extremely short, I do not recommend this book to anyone under the age of eighteen. I do not think this book should be taught in a high school period mainly because it was not written for a teenage audience. Even if it is a college-level course, there are better books to introduce literature to teens without the language and violence found in this book. However, I also understand the reason why teachers and educators teach this and the impact they hope it to have. I don’t think this should be required reading, and if taught, should be with parental approval.

If you liked this book you may also enjoy How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child . It is the true story of Sandra Uwiringiyimana who grew up in the middle of a war zone prior to migrating to the United States. Another you might like is The Good Soldiers by Dave Finkel . I have not personally read the second book but I think it would be a good fit.

A Note to Parents and Teachers

Parents and teachers of high school students, if you are having a hard time finding age-appropriate books that are engaging, please reach out to me. I took a class at BYU specifically about teen and young adult literature. We discussed and how to choose books to read in a group setting. The books we read had hard topics in them but the books came at them in an age-appropriate way because they were written for teens. I can think of ten books off the top of my head that would be better to use and still have hard conversations.

I’ll try to cover more about this topic in a later post but reach out to me with questions about books, lesson plans, discussion questions, or if you want to share your experiences with The Things They Carried. Until next time!

Happy Reading!

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I am a high school teacher and teach The Things They Carried every year to English IV. Now most of these students are eighteen or will turn eighteen over the course of their senior year. But I read this book because so many students come to me and HATE reading. There has to be a reason for them to read, unfortunately, beyond simply it’s an assignment. Yes, there is language. Yes, there is gore. But they love reading it. It captures their interests. It makes them excited for just a moment to come to English. So after the close readings are finished and the literary analysis is done, I am confident they leave my classroom with one book read AND enjoyed. I find that far outweighs the language. I don’t think the merit comes from just being a Pulitzer, so your suggested replacements simply don’t work for all students. Just like The Things They Carried does not work for all.

Thank you for your comment! I am a big believer that not every book is right for every person. I love that you are trying to inspire the love of reading in your students! I read this book when I was 16 and it was the most mature book that I was exposed to. I think it would have been different by the time I was a senior. What books would you suggest as a replacement for The Things They Carried?

The point of the book is to educate future citizens on why war is bad. It doesn’t matter if they have fun reading it

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Inspired by his real experiences as a young soldier in the Vietnam War, Tim O’Brien’s widely acclaimed 1990 book “The Things They Carried” is an engrossing collection of stories about the varied experiences of war, from its violent horrors to heart-wrenching moments of friendship, sacrifice, and beauty. O’Brien’s writing is equal parts hallucinatory and concrete, surreal and corporeal, as the novel’s chapters vary in time period and perspective, to fully explore the futility of war, the power of friendship, and the motivating effect of death, shame, morality, isolation, and survival. “Part of the job of the writer is to be an iconoclast,” says O’Brien, and to tell the public the things it may not want to hear. July 6, 2024

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'The Things They Carried,' 20 Years On

Author Tim O'Brien has said The Things They Carried has been optioned for movies multiple times, but has yet to reach the big screen. Meredith O'Brien hide caption

Author Tim O'Brien has said The Things They Carried has been optioned for movies multiple times, but has yet to reach the big screen.

In war, there are no winners. That's what readers take away from Tim O'Brien's book about the Vietnam War, The Things They Carried , in the 20 years since its publication.

O'Brien wrote parts of The Things They Carried 20 years after his service in Vietnam. 40 years since the war, he still carries it with him. "I carry the memories of the ghosts of a place called Vietnam — the people of Vietnam, my fellow soldiers," he tells host Neal Conan. "More importantly," he continues, "I carry the weight of responsibility, and a sense of abiding guilt."

But O'Brien carries joyful memories, too, "the friends I made, the conversations at foxholes where, for a moment or two, the war would seem to vanish into camaraderie and friendship."

Still, the memories of near-death moments remain the most vivid. "There's something about being amid the chaos and the horror of a war that makes you appreciate all you don't have, and all you may lose forever." Those things range, for O'Brien, from "the sublime, your parents, down to the petty — a Big Mac, and a cold Coke. When you're really really thirsty and you're drinking paddy water, the mind will lock on a can of cold Coke the way your mind might, you know, back in high school, have locked on a pretty girl."

O'Brien never anticipated the universal appeal his story would have among young people. They "bring such fervor to it that comes from their own lives, really. The book is... applied to a bad childhood or a broken home. And these are the things they're carrying."

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Tim O’Brien Joins Ali Velshi for Banned Book Club

BY Michael Schaub • July 8, 2024

Tim O’Brien talked about his classic book The Things They Carried on MSNBC’s Velshi as part of host Ali Velshi’s recurring Banned Book Club segment.

The book has been the subject of challenges in high schools by people who object to its use of profanity.

O’Brien told Velshi that the book was inspired by the conflicting emotions he felt as a soldier in Vietnam.

“It’s an emotional book,” O’Brien said. “I think it’s an honest book. It’s a way of checking out of telling the lies, which apparently MAGA America has now fallen in love with, ideological fairy tales. Some of those ideological fairy tales are about war itself, American soldiers, and they’re always behaving righteously. They don’t cuss; they don’t use profanity. But as a writer, it feels that’s my obligation in the pages of a work of fiction to do my best to be forthright and honest. You can’t have a soldier, badly wounded, saying ‘Gee willikers, I’ve been shot.’ Soldiers just don’t talk that way.”

Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.

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Supernatural: "The Things They Carried" Review

Supernatural: "The Things They Carried" Photo Gallery:

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Even with weak spots, "The Things They Carried" did a tidy job of mixing the monster of the week case with the bigger Mark of Cain arc. Handling the monster had hard-hitting repercussions, and it was important for us to see Sam realize he might actually lose his brother. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Amy Ratcliffe is a writer for IGN TV. You can follow her on on Twitter at @Amy_Geek and IGN at alratcliffe . [widget path="ign/modules/recirc" parameters="title=Recent%20IGN%20TV%20Reviews%3A&type=articles&tags=tv-review&count=6&columnCount=6&theme=article"]

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More From Forbes

3 things we can learn from 'mission: impossible' about business transformation.

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Sidharth Ramsinghaney: Director of Strategy & Operations at Twilio, McKinsey Alum and visionary leader in M&A and Transformations (LinkedIn)

What if you approached business transformation with Ethan Hunt's audacity and precision? Picture this: Tom Cruise, hanging off the Burj Khalifa, racing against time to save the world. Okay, boardrooms aren't usually that intense, but leading a transformation? That takes guts, planning and determination worthy of Ethan Hunt.

For the past 15 years, I've been elbow-deep in the trenches of transformations. From my time as a management consultant at McKinsey and Deloitte, where I helped some of the world's biggest companies navigate massive shifts, to my current role leading strategy and operations for a major tech company, I've seen firsthand what it takes to make change happen—and what happens when you don't.

But along the way, I realized something: Those "Mission: Impossible" movies? They're not just popcorn entertainment. They're packed with insights that can help any leader navigate the choppy waters of change.

Ethan Hunt's Determination: Uncover The Real Mission

Ethan Hunt never accepts the mission briefing at face value, right? He digs deeper, uncovering hidden agendas. Our company, Twilio, did the same. We realized our mission wasn't just communication tools but empowering businesses to build meaningful customer engagement.

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Nyt ‘strands’ hints, spangram and answers for wednesday, july 10th, microsoft windows deadline—you have 21 days to update your pc.

Back in the late 2000s, we could have stuck with basic services. But our team sensed something more. We listened to developers craving innovative, customer-centric applications. That's when it clicked: Empower them to build those experiences. That shift in perspective, that commitment to understanding deeper needs, fueled our growth and leadership in cloud communication.

Leaders need to question assumptions and dig deeper than surface-level analysis. Don't just look at what your company does; uncover why you do it. What fundamental human need are you fulfilling? What problem are you uniquely positioned to solve? This deeper understanding of your company's core purpose becomes the North Star for any successful transformation. It ensures that every decision, investment and shift in strategy aligns with a clear and compelling vision of the future.

The Impossible Mission Force's (IMF) Boldness: Calculated Risks, Not Recklessness

Just like the IMF team in the movie that pulled off those intricate heists with calculated risks and a plan, successful transformations often demand bold, strategic moves.

Take Hewlett Packard Enterprise's daring spin-off of their legacy hardware business to focus on cloud and edge computing. A gamble? Sure. But it was a calculated one that paid off, making them a leader in those emerging markets.

Embracing calculated risk doesn't mean throwing caution to the wind. It requires a disciplined approach, something my father, Mr. K.S. Ramsinghaney (known as KSR to those close to him), instilled in me. He's held numerous leadership roles, including CEO and board member, and always pushed me to think: What's the downside? What's the worst-case scenario? Can we tolerate it? What's our plan B if things go south? It's a lesson that's served me well and one that's reflected in the IMF's meticulous planning.

Before making any bold move, ask yourself those same questions. Don't be afraid to gather data, analyze potential outcomes and seek diverse perspectives. Remember, the IMF always has contingency plans. By carefully assessing the risks and rewards, you can make bold decisions with the confidence that you're not just taking a shot in the dark, but strategically positioning your business for future success—just like KSR, my son Kiaansh Sidharth Ramsinghaney (yes, also KSR!), will hopefully learn to do one day.

A Unified Front: Empowerment, Not Just Alignment

Cruise may be the star, but "Mission: Impossible" thrives on teamwork, with each IMF member playing a crucial role—just like a successful transformation. Empowering your team, like Ethan Hunt empowers his, is key. For example, when T-Mobile merged with Sprint, they didn't just combine companies; they created a shared vision and empowered employees at all levels to drive integration.

True empowerment goes far beyond delegating tasks. It's about fostering ownership. That starts with relentlessly communicating the "why" behind a transformation. People embrace change when they understand its purpose and how it benefits them. Breaking down silos is also crucial. Transformations often require a level of collaboration that crosses departmental lines.

At McKinsey, we used to call it an "obligation to dissent"—encouraging respectful pushback and diverse viewpoints. I initially struggled with this, wanting everyone to be aligned from the start. But I soon realized that those early disagreements often led to more robust and creative solutions. And when a team pulls off a win, no matter how small, celebrate it! I've seen firsthand how recognizing and rewarding contributions, even in seemingly minor ways, can work wonders for morale.

Back at Deloitte, I made it a point to nominate my team members for firm-wide "Applause Awards" for their work on client projects or internal initiatives. At Twilio, we have a similar system called "Hoots" to acknowledge and appreciate each other's efforts. And sometimes, the most impactful gestures are the most informal. At one company, I helped establish a tradition of "Thank You Thursdays" on our team Slack channel. Every week, people would share what they were grateful for, whether it was a personal milestone or a shout-out to a colleague who had gone above and beyond. These small acts of appreciation created a ripple effect, fostering a more positive and supportive team environment.

The business landscape is a high-stakes game, more akin to Ethan Hunt's world than we might care to admit. It's a relentless cycle of adapt or die, where standing still is not an option. Transformations, while daunting, are not insurmountable. By embracing the "Mission: Impossible" ethos—deep understanding, calculated audacity and unwavering teamwork—leaders can equip their organizations to do more than just survive in this volatile environment. They can engineer their own success.

So, channel your inner Tom Cruise. Embrace the impossible. Because in the end, the only mission that truly fails is the one you were too afraid to accept.

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The Bleak, Nihilistic Show Russians Can’t Stop Watching

The streaming hit, “The Boy’s Word,” about youth gangs in the last years of the Soviet Union, says grim things about the national mood.

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A photo illustration of a collage with scenes from “The Boys Word.”

By Alexander Nazaryan

In December, the Ukrainian culture ministry issued a warning about a Russian TV series that was being widely (and illegally) viewed across the besieged nation. There was no explicit mention of the offending show, which was described as “hostile propaganda,” but none was needed: Everyone knew it was “ Slovo Patsana: Krov na Asphalte ,” a new series about the youth gangs, or gruppirovki, that came to dominate the central Russian city Kazan in the final years of the Soviet Union.

The show’s title is usually translated to “The Boy’s Word,” though patsan has an edgier connotation . When we first meet the protagonist, Andrey Vasilyev, he is a sensitive teenager who plays the piano; then he is recruited into the Universam gang by a young man named Marat. Patsan was what such gangsters called one another, as if they were a unique breed of citizen. The opposite of the patsan was a chushpan : a loser, a rube, a working stiff. A patsan might die in a brawl or go to prison, but that was still better than sitting through workers’ committee meetings at the Tupolev helicopter factory . “We’re the street,” Marat says, after a brawl in a discothèque. (I’m translating loosely.) “In this city of weaklings, we are the only human beings.”

After its release last fall, the show bested “Squid Game” as Russia’s most streamed; in its first month, it saw more queries on the Russian search engine Yandex than “SVO,” the acronym for the “special military operation” in Ukraine. Its first half is concerned with a hat Andrey’s mother loses in a game of three-card monte; the second is about the contested ownership of a VCR, which spins into a bloody gang rivalry. “It’s the story of young men living in a society where there is no longer a unifying principle,” David MacFadyen , a professor of musicology and comparative literature and expert in Russian popular culture at the University of California Los Angeles, told me. “All that’s left is physical violence.”

At one point, Andrey’s affection for an older official — played by Anastasiya Krasovskaya, a Belarusian model who doesn’t exactly square with my recollections of Soviet martinets — brings him to a small party of would-be rockers whose Dylanesque sensibility he doesn’t share. Andrey stuns the hipsters by playing a few soulful chords on a piano. Then he abruptly slams the fallboard down, growling, “I see you around the neighborhood, I bury you.” In just three episodes, he has gone from Little Mozart to Ivan Drago. So would Russia go, in three decades, from the young democracy tempting Harvard Business School quants to a rogue superpower embracing North Korea.

Andrey is a blank. With his pouting lips and deep-set eyes, he resembles a tattoo-free Justin Bieber, but he is so defiantly affectless that even the care he lavishes on his mother and sister fails to make him sympathetic. After Marat’s girlfriend is raped and then dies by suicide, a rift emerges between the boys. “There are higher laws than the code of the patsan,” Marat says. Andrey looks at him indifferently — he hates weakness, because he was once weak himself. “There is no such law,” he says.

Russian television is still far behind where American television was when Tony Soprano first sat in Dr. Melfi’s waiting room, but “The Boy’s Word” is an attempt at something similar. The problem is its lack of irony. On “The Sopranos,” Tony the patient distanced himself from Tony the criminal, while the show kept a certain observational distance from its subject, elevating the series above ordinary television. As many great Soviet artists knew, irony can be remarkably subversive. But subversion is forbidden in Russia today, so “The Boy’s Word” only offers one face-punching after another against a backdrop of Soviet kitsch.

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IMAGES

The Things They Carried Movie: What We Know (Release Date, Cast, Movie
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COMMENTS

Everything We Know About Tom Hardy's The Things They Carried
Hollywood is gearing up for a movie adaptation of The Things They Carried starring Tom Hardy, and there's already some key information out there on the war film. Released in 1990, The Things They Carried is a collection of short stories written by Tim O'Brien focusing on a group of American soldiers during the Vietnam War.The book contains 21 short stories that blend fiction and non-fiction as ...
Tom Hardy, Pete Davidson Lead Vietnam War Movie 'Things They Carried'
MJZ's Zander added: " Things They Carried is a timeless tale about the human heart. It's about fear and courage and friendship. It's about growing up, about holding oneself together in the ...
The Things They Carried Movie: What We Know
The Things They Carried Movie Development Timeline. March 28, 1990 The Things They Carried (novel) is released. November 2, 2020 'The Things They Carried': Tye Sheridan, Tom Hardy, Stephan James, Bill Skarsgard, Pete Davidson & Ashton Sanders Lead All-Star Vietnam War Movie — AFM Hot Pic. See it on IMDB. See the book on Amazon.
The Things They Carried movie recruits all-star cast: Tom Hardy, Pete
Tim O'Brien's often-assigned book 'The Things They Carried,' about the Vietnam War, is becoming a film with a cast that includes Tom Hardy, Pete Davidson, Stephan James, Bill Skarsgard, Tye ...
The Things They Carried is finally being adapted for film (and the cast
Since its publication in 1990, Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, a linked collection of semi-autobiographical short stories about the Vietnam War, has become a modern classic—in fact, its title story is the most frequently anthologized piece of short fiction in the last three decades, and it's still frequently taught in classrooms, a fact which […]
Tom Hardy to star in 'The Things They Carried' film about Vietnam war
The iconic Vietnam War novel 'The Things They Carried' is getting a film with a star-studded cast. Tom Hardy will embrace his third major military role after Black Hawk Down and Dunkirk as he ...
'The Things They Carried' Is Finally Getting a Movie and the Cast Looks
Published November 02, 2020. This Vietnam Book Classic Is Finally Getting a Movie and the Cast Looks Amazing. Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" is one of the very best books ever written ...
The Things They Carried: Tom Hardy, Tye Sheridan Lead ...
The short story "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" served as the basis for the 1998 Kiefer Sutherland movie A Soldier's Sweetheart . News of the starry cast assembled for The Things They Carried ...
Tom Hardy, Pete Davidson Join 'The Things They Carried'
Tom Hardy, Pete Davidson, Stephan James, Bill Skarsgård, Tye Sheridan, Ashton Sanders, Martin Sensmeier, Moises Arias and Angus Cloud have been cast in the Vietnam War drama " The Things They ...
Tom Hardy & Bill Skarsgard Lead All-Star Cast Of Vietnam War Drama
Tom Hardy and Bill Skarsgard lead the all-star cast for the Vietnam War drama The Things They Carried.Published in 1990, the short story collection The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien followed a platoon of soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War in the 1960s. The book went on to sell over 2 million copies and was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.
Rupert Sanders to Direct The Things They Carried Movie
Published Mar 6, 2019. Link copied to clipboard. Rupert Sanders is set to direct the Vietnam War movie The Things They Carried, based on the acclaimed collection of linked short stories by Tim O ...
'The Things They Carried' Cast Will Feature Tom Hardy, Stephen ...
The Things They Carried, based on Tim O'Brien's Vietnam War book, lines up an impressive cast that includes Tom Hardy, Stephen James, Bill Skarsgard, Pete Davidson, and more.
'The Things They Carried' Movie Coming From 'Ghost In The Shell ...
The Things They Carried, a book I'm sure many of us read in a high school Lit class, is getting the big screen treatment. Rupert Sanders, director of Snow White and the Huntsman and the ill ...
The Things They Carried
The story of the young men of Alpha Company, a platoon of soldiers sent to fight on the ground during the Vietnam War. Trekking from village to village amidst chaos and confusion, the young men struggle to navigate a growing labyrinth of physical, mental, and emotional terrains as they battle for the survival of their sanity, innocence, and each other. An adaptation of Tim O'Brien's book of ...
'The Things They Carried' Is Finally Getting a Movie and the ...
November 2, 2020 · 3 min read. This Vietnam Book Classic Is Finally Getting a Movie and the Cast Looks Amazing. Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" is one of the very best books ever written ...
The Things They Carried (2021)
By Ryan Scott. Nov 3, 2020. Director Rupert Sanders is set to direct The Things They Carried, which is based on Tim O'Brien's 1990 book. Starring Tom Hardy and Pete Davidson.
The Things They Carried
Visit the movie page for 'The Things They Carried' on Moviefone. Discover the movie's synopsis, cast details and release date. Watch trailers, exclusive interviews, and movie review. Your guide to ...
The Things They Carried: Tom Hardy, Tye Sheridan & More to Star in
The Things They Carried will be based on Tim O'Brien's acclaimed collection of Vietnam War stories which centers around a platoon of young soldiers and their experiences on the front lines ...
'The Things They Carried' casts Tom Hardy, Stephan James, more
By Pamela Gocobachi. The upcoming big screen adaptation of The Things They Carried has found its stars in actors Tom Hardy, Stephan James, and Pete Davidson, and more. According to Variety, Tom ...
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
It is a work of fiction, but it reads like a memoir and a loose collection of short stories and disjointed events. The Things They Carried is not a cohesive novel with an arc, and it doesn't read like a typical story. That being said, I hate it. Yep, I'm going to say that again and embrace it.
Velshi Banned Book Club: 'The Things They Carried' with Tim ...
Inspired by his real experiences as a young soldier in the Vietnam War, Tim O'Brien's widely acclaimed 1990 book "The Things They Carried" is an engrossing collection of stories about the ...
The Things They Carried
The Things They Carried (1990) is a collection of linked short stories by American novelist Tim O'Brien, about a platoon of American soldiers fighting on the ground in the Vietnam War.His third book about the war, it is based upon his experiences as a soldier in the 23rd Infantry Division.. O'Brien generally refrains from political debate and discourse regarding the Vietnam War.
'The Things They Carried,' 20 Years On : NPR
O'Brien wrote parts of The Things They Carried 20 years after his service in Vietnam. 40 years since the war, he still carries it with him. "I carry the memories of the ghosts of a place called ...
Tim O'Brien Joins Ali Velshi for Banned Book Club
Tim O'Brien talked about his classic book The Things They Carried on MSNBC's Velshi as part of host Ali Velshi's recurring Banned Book Club segment.. Variously described as a novel and a short story collection, The Things They Carried was published in 1990 by Houghton Mifflin.The book, which follows a group of American soldiers in the Vietnam War, received significant acclaim from ...
Supernatural: "The Things They Carried" Review
Verdict. Even with weak spots, "The Things They Carried" did a tidy job of mixing the monster of the week case with the bigger Mark of Cain arc. Handling the monster had hard-hitting repercussions ...
3 Business Lessons We Can Learn From 'Mission: Impossible'
For the past 15 years, I've been elbow-deep in the trenches of transformations. From my time as a management consultant at McKinsey and Deloitte, where I helped some of the world's biggest ...
The Bleak, Nihilistic Show Russians Can't Stop Watching
"They say that in a year or two, we will be like America. Or maybe better." My family left the country in 1989, and I remember the disappointment and humiliation of those years with ...

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