However, at that point, creative differences between screenwriter Stephen Fry and director Steven Soderbergh caused the project to dissolve. Apparently, John Goodman became attached to the project after the death of Chris Farley.

Still, many actors and directors alike still showed interest in bringing John Kennedy Toole’s masterpiece to the visual medium. Thus, the idea that this role was cursed began to circulate around the film industry. And, now, Chris Farley had died of a drug overdose in 1997 while gearing up to play the role of Ignatius J. John Candy had died suddenly of a heart attack after having been attached to the project. John Belushi died of an overdose in 1982 while working on a screen adaptation of A Confederacy of Dunces. The book follows the daily life of Ignatius and a few other characters as they meander through amusing situations for 400 or so pages until it ends. There isn’t much of a storyline or a moral imperative. Reilly as he wanders (fairly aimlessly) through New Orleans, a city that he detests yet is too much of a hypochondriac and a bum to leave. If you haven’t read A Confederacy of Dunces, first and foremost, the novel follows its main character Ignatius J. It’s almost as if this novel is cursed… The First Try So, it’s surprising that it has never been made into a movie. Obviously, both Toole’s writing acumen and the macabre circumstances surrounding this novel have made it a cult classic. A Confederacy of Dunces became an instant success and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1981, making John Kennedy Toole just one of three authors to ever win the prize posthumously. And, after being rejected by countless publishers, Thelma was finally able to get the book published by the Louisiana State University Press in 1980. However, his mother Thelma was determined to share her son’s writing with the world. Prior to his death, none of his novels had ever been published.

Unfortunately, Toole, who had been afflicted by paranoia and depression all his life, killed himself in his car in 1969 at the age of 31.

A confederacy of dunces author