A sequel to the misadventures of Forrest Gump was written by the author of the original novel, called “Gump & Co”. Planned to be also adapted, this sequel has been at a standstill for years…
It’s a safe bet that you have most certainly seen, reviewed and re-reviewed Forrest Gump, which has become a classic since its release in 1994. But do you know Gump & Co. ?
Following his marvelous novel published in 1986 and brilliantly adapted by Robert Zemeckis, Gump & Co., written by Winston Groom, was published in 1995 in the United States. It will however be necessary to wait until 2017 to be able to read in French the new (mis)adventures of Forrest, published by Cherche-Midi.
A little older and, in his own way, a little wiser than before, Forrest kept running. It is now the 1980s that he will have to go through, the time when the cult of the self, of success and of liberalism succeeds all the collective hopes of the previous decade.
Alone with his son to raise, Forrest would also like to have his share of the cake. After an abortive attempt in sport, new tribulations await him, from the sale of encyclopedias to a few meetings with the great figures of the Reagan and Bush era, passing by the invention of a miracle recipe for Coca Cola, the almost involuntary fall of the Berlin Wall and the capture of Saddam Hussein.
Paramount Pictures
One of the highlights of this new story is the relationship that Forrest forms with his son, whom he had with Jenny, his childhood sweetheart. Ironically, the child is a genius. Forrest finds it all the more difficult to establish a father-son relationship with him since they are not often together, and when they meet again they have a hard time establishing a dialogue.
There was talk of the book also being adapted for the cinema, but the project was postponed when America had just been struck in the heart on September 11, 2001. Eric Roth, who had written the adaptation for the first film, said well written screenplay Gump & Co. in 2001.
Apart from raising eyebrows on the side of Paramount in 2007, presumably eager to reactivate the project, he has since lost himself in the abyss of Development Hell, never to get out. And Tom Hanks is now 66 years old. 28 years after the release of the film, it is hard to imagine him embodying his iconic character with the same candor…