“Into the Wild” wasn’t Jon Krakauer’s first book to receive the cinematic treatment. In fact, Krakauer’s first-hand account of a disaster on Mount Everest, “Into Thin Air,” served as the basis for two different films. However, “Into the Wild” was the first film adaptation that Krakauer really liked.

Krakauer said Indiewire that the 1997 TV movie “Into Thin Air: Death on Everest” practically ruined him for wanting to see his books adapted for the cinema again. Krakauer said, “They asked me to be a consultant and they didn’t listen to any of my advice and it was awful.” His experience was even worse with the 2015 movie “Everest.” outdoors online, director Baltasar Kormákur didn’t even bother to reach out to Krakauer (at least not directly), even though Michael Kelly was going to play a fictionalized version of the author. Krakauer’s assessment of the film was direct: “It’s a total bull,” he said. The Los Angeles Times.

It is therefore all the more significant that Krakauer loved the film version of “Into the Wild”. Admittedly, he feared the worst at first. Krakauer told the Los Angeles Times that he didn’t get a chance to visit the set until the last day of production. He warned the director: “Sean, if you [screw] that, I don’t want you to say that I was there. Fortunately, Krakauer was pleasantly surprised. [Penn] showed me the rough cut,” Krakauer said, “I wanted to kiss it, I was so happy.”