Over the years, footage and audio of the Oregon-based Merry Pranksters have surfaced, but was little more than ragged, disjointed documentation of the group tripping and weirding out. Except for Neal Cassady’s endless speed-jacked rap, there was little narrative. Now, director Gus Van Sant is helming the book’s adaptation to the big screen with Milk and Big Love writer Dustin Lance Black. Milk’s director of photography Harris Savides is also committed to the film.

After several false starts, the project is coming together. “These seeds have been in the wind for a long time,” says Ken Babbs, Kesey’s best friend and fellow Merry Prankster. “I talked to Gus. And I was happy he was making the movie. Back in the 1970s, Kesey and Gus were friends and Ken told him if anyone ever made the film he wanted Gus to do it.”

Van Sant originally pictured the late Heath Ledger for the Kesey role, but now has two marquee names in mind: Woody Harrelson and Jack Black, which might make the film more of comedy than a zany drug jag. Caroline Garcia (a.k.a. Mountain Girl), a Prankster and former wife of Jerry Garcia, said Harrelson visited Kesey shortly before he died. “They went out into the field and had a pretty good mind meld,” Garcia says. “I just know he could play the role.” Garcia mentioned Black might be a fit for “The Mad Chemist,” the infamous LSD impresario Owsley “Bear” Stanley, who launched an untold number of minds into outer space and was an artist and early sound engineer for the Dead (he’s credited with revolutionizing live stereo sound). Black’s camp had no comment. And who will play Caroline Garcia? She suggests Scarlett Johansson. Maybe Maura Tierney. “Well, I’m 5′10″, so she would have to be tall. I mean, I ride a Harley Davidson.”

Read the whole interview @ Rolling Stone

Here’s a 2008 interview with Tom Wolfe for Time Magazine:

The surviving members of the Grateful Dead will hit the road as The Dead for the first time in five years this spring, with the band unveiling plans for a month-long tour.

Original Dead members Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart will once again be joined onstage by Gov’t Mule/Alllman Brothers Band guitarist Warren Haynes, who also toured with the band during 2004’s “Wave That Flag” tour. Keyboardist Jeff Chimenti will round out the lineup during the outing, which kicks off April 12 in Greensboro, NC. The 16-city trek will run through a May 10 show in Mountain View, CA. Details are below.

April 2009
12 - Greensboro, NC - Greensboro Coliseum
14 - Washington, DC - Verizon Center
15 - Charlottesville, VA - John Paul Jones Arena
17 - Albany, NY - Times Union Center
18, 19 - Worcester, MA - DCU Center
21 - Buffalo, NY - HSBC Arena
22 - Wilkes-Barre, PA - Wachovia Arena @ Casey Plaza
24 - Uniondale, NY - Nassau Coliseum
25 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
26 - Hartford, CT - XL Center
28, 29 - E. Rutherford, NJ - IZOD Center

May 2009
1,2 - Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Spectrum
5 - Rosemont, IL - Allstate Arena
7 - Denver, CO - Pepsi Center
9 - Inglewood, CA - The Forum
10 - Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheater

source: http://www.livedaily.com/news/15455.html