Fight to film cult hero was lengthy
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/EdmontonSun/...987681-sun.html It took seven years, but Matthew McConaughey finally got to play one of his favourite literary heroes. In the action adventure Sahara, McConaughey portrays the self-styled adventurer Dirk Pitt, the hero of a series of adventure novels by Clive Cussler that achieved cult status among their fans.
The only other Dirk Pitt adventure to be made into a movie was Raise the Titanic in 1980.
"I am a huge fan of Clive's novels. I started actively chasing this project seven years ago," says McConaughey, who quickly discovered he was not alone in his desire to turn Dirk Pitt into another Indiana Jones.
"When I first met with Clive, he said I'd be a great Dirk, except that I'm a blond and Dirk's a brunette.
"I think it was his way of trying to put me off, so I told him we could certainly do something about the hair colour."
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