Aron Ralston documentary set at National Geographic with James Marsh
National Geographic has ordered an untitled Aron Ralston film using video he shot during the 2003 canyon ordeal behind 127 Hours.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
A new Aron Ralston documentary is coming from National Geographic, with Oscar-winning filmmaker James Marsh directing an untitled film about the 2003 Utah canyon ordeal that later inspired 127 Hours, Deadline reported.
The project, from Magna Studios, will use footage Ralston recorded himself while trapped in Bluejohn Canyon after a boulder pinned his right arm during a solo descent, according to National Geographic materials cited by Deadline. The network plans to release the documentary next year.
Ralston survived after spending six days stuck in the canyon and making the decision to sever his own arm to escape. His account became the memoir Between a Rock and a Hard Place, which Danny Boyle later adapted into 127 Hours.
What is the Aron Ralston documentary about?
The film will revisit Ralston’s survival story through video he shot during the crisis, including what National Geographic described as a raw diary of his thoughts as he faced death in the canyon. The footage has not previously been seen, according to Deadline.
Marsh said in a statement that Ralston’s recordings give the film unusual emotional force because they capture what he was feeling while trapped and shifting between hope and despair. He also praised National Geographic as a home for ambitious, cinematic documentary work.
The earlier fictionalized version of Ralston’s ordeal, 127 Hours, starred James Franco as the climber. The film received six Academy Award nominations, including a best actor nomination for Franco.
Marsh brings his own Oscar history to the project. He won the Academy Award for Man on Wire, the 2009 documentary about Philippe Petit’s 1974 tightrope walk between the World Trade Center towers. His other credits include The Theory of Everything and The King.
Who is making the film?
National Geographic Documentary Films is partnering with Magna Studios on the project. Carolyn Bernstein, executive vice president of National Geographic Documentary Films, said in a statement that Marsh had long been on the company’s wish list and that Ralston’s personal archive made the story a fit for its character-led documentary slate.
Oliver Calleja, senior vice president of non-fiction at Magna Studios, said Ralston’s footage showed someone caught in a dangerous and profound dilemma, and that Marsh was the company’s preferred filmmaker for the material.
In a 2010 interview cited by Deadline, Ralston described being pinned by a boulder about the size of a bus tire in a 50-foot-deep slot canyon, five miles from the nearest dirt road and far from a phone, pavement, running water or help. He said he was alone, had not told anyone his route and believed he would die there if he could not get free.
The Ralston film joins a National Geographic documentary lineup that also includes Everest: The Other Side from Free Solo Oscar winners Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, which has been announced for a world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. National Geographic also has Carl Sagan: We Are Made of Star Stuff, directed by Oscar nominee Nanette Burstein, nearing its world premiere, according to Deadline.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.