The late film director Jonathan Demme's plans for an adaptation of Herman Melville's Typee were in development hell for over a decade. Demme is known for, along others, Married to the Mob (1987), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), and Philadelphia (1993) and has an extensive filmography as not just a director but also a writer and producer.The working title for Demme's projected film had been King of the Cannibal Islands, after a song dating back at least to 1828 that Melville had referenced in Typee, Omoo and Moby-Dick. E.g., from Typee:
One bright afternoon, a gig, gaily bedizened with streamers, was observed to shove off from the side of one of the French frigates, and pull directly for our gangway. In the stern sheets reclined Mowanna and his consort. As they approached, we paid them all the honours due to royalty;—manning our yards, firing a salute, and making a prodigious hubbub.They ascended the accommodation ladder, were greeted by the Commodore, hat in hand, and passing along the quarter-deck, the marine guard presented arms, while the band struck up ‘The King of the Cannibal Islands’. So far all went well. The French officers grimaced and smiled in exceedingly high spirits, wonderfully pleased with the discreet manner in which these distinguished personages behaved themselves.
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At the Movies[…]Mr. Demme hopes to work directorial magic on his own adaptation of Herman Melville's “Typee,” to be produced by Evelyn Purcell, a statuesque Australian who also answers to the name of Mrs. Jonathan Demme.N.Y. Times. November 4, 1977: 60.
At the Movies[…]Back in the early 1840s, when Herman Melville was sailing the high seas, he jumped ship in the Marquesas and was taken captive by a tribe of cannibals.Although literature students may beg to differ, Melville fortunately escaped the stewpot and was eventually rescued by an Australian whaler. He spent some time in Tahiti, returned home in 1844 and began to turn his experiences into romances — the first being Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life in 1846.Now, it seems, Typee may be headed for the screen - produced by Jeremy Thomas and directed by Jonathan Demme.“At the Movies.” N. Y. Times. November 20, 1987:The overstuffed suite Demme keeps as an office is dubbed Clinica Estetico (what we gringos call a beauty shop), painted in a riot of Haitian motifs and equipped with outsize, knock-kneed, low-slung furniture that Joanne (whose own somber nature studies compete with “tons” of Haitian paintings in their lower-Manhattan loft) figures to be suited to either giants or midgets. Ed Saxon, the coproducer of Married, is next door finagling permissions for another eclectic soundtrack, and there is desk space for two upcoming projects: Continental Drift, an adaptation of the Russell Banks novel wherein the fate of Haitian refugees is intertwined with one man’s American tragedy, and King of the Cannibal Islands, an adaptation of Herman Melville’s Typee, renamed after a popular ditty of the period.Shruers, Fred. “Jonathan Demme: Making Movies for Love, Not Money.” Rolling Stone. May 19, 1988. https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-features/jonathan-demme-making-movies-for-love-not-money-192367/Marsh 26, 1995ROBERT PAUL BRESLOBy VARIETY STAFFRobert Paul Breslo, a writer and script consultant who appeared in Jonathan Demme’s “Philadelphia,” died March 10 at New York Hospital of AIDS complications. He was 37.Born in St. Louis and a graduate of the U. of Chicago, Breslo began his career writing greeting cards and went on to write for Chicago-based chef James Beard’s weekly cooking show.He adapted Carson McCullers’ short story “A Domestic Dilemma” for HBO in 1991, and adapted Herman Melville’s novel “Typee” for Demme.He co-wrote several screenplays and also did story editing and script reading for Demme’s film production company, Clinica Estetico. He also read scripts for HBO.Breslo, a friend of Demme’s, played a bit part in “Philadelphia.”He is survived by his father, Robert, a sister and five brothers.Memorial services are being planned for May.https://variety.com/1995/scene/people-news/robert-paul-breslo-99128395/