If you were a teen boy, would you go for 'Homelanders' or 'Outlaw'?

By Sarah Sluis

For today's pickup news, I thought I would pit two teen male projects against each other. One represents all that is good in the filmmaking business, the latter all that is bad (but then again, I'm a twenty-something female). The first project is Outlaw, which 20th Century Fox just picked up. The movie will be based on the life of Colton Harris-Moore, a teenage fugitive who has committed over a hundred crimes, including stealing boats, cars, and a plane. The tale will be based on an upcoming book by the author Bob Friel, who interviewed the teen for an Outside magazine article. This is the kind of story that you just can't make up. The boy has a tortured past, and the fact that he's become a huge hit on Facebook is a thoroughly modern and fresh take (fictional Kick-Ass, coming out this Friday, gets points for making YouTube videos a meaningful part of the movie's plot).

The other project is the Homelanders series, which Summit just acquired. Based on a series of young adult books (two have released so far), the movie will follow a boy who wakes up with no memory of the last year, tied to a chair and in the process of being tortured. He learns he is on the run from evil, possibly government forces and uses his black belt in karate to defend himself.

While both movies feature autonomous teens living on their own and doing what it takes (even committing crimes) to survive, real life trumps recycled fiction in my book. Here's a comparison of the two. I think the winner is clear...

Outlaw	Homelanders
A fugitive from the authorities	Wakes up after missing a year of his life to find he is a fugitive from authorities
Stole and crashed a Cessna. Steals speedboats, Mercedes	Black belt in karate
True story	Recycles every known action plot device�didn't I see an episode of "24" like this?
He's angry and grew up in a trailer with an abusive father	He's lonely and misses his old life
Sometimes breaks into homes to take bubble baths and eat mint-chip ice cream	Hides out in an abandoned home with a friend and his girlfriend he doesn't remember
Facebook following, online fan club	Knows how to IM
Juvenile delinquent	Good student caught in a situation right out of The Fugitive
Camped in an Indian burial ground on the San Juan Islands, one of the most picturesque, unusual places in the U.S.	I dunno�the grain states somewhere?
Robin Hood	Conservative, Republican slant
David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express) may direct	Lorenzo DiBonavenura (Transformers) is producing.