Into The Wild (book) - Film Adaptations

Film Adaptations

The film adaptation directed by Sean Penn was released in 2007 and stars Emile Hirsch as McCandless. The film emphasizes, and in some cases exaggerates, certain aspects of personal relationships that McCandless experienced, including his parents' domestic conflicts and his own interaction with teenager Tracy Tatro, played by Kristen Stewart. Other interactions portrayed in the film, however, seem very accurate based on Krakauer's research, including the characters of Jan Burres, played by Catherine Keener, and "Ronald Franz" (pseudonym), played by Hal Holbrook. The film's depiction of McCandless's death differs from the theory put forth by Krakauer in the later edition of the book. Penn controversially and falsely depicts McCandless confusing the seeds of H. alpinum with those of his claimed, but disproven to be, toxic H. mackenzii; whereas, Krakauer revised his theory and claimed that McCandless died because he had ingested seeds that were infected with a particular type of mold, which has yet to be proven by any scientific evidence (see "Summary" above).

McCandless's story is also the subject of a 2007 documentary by Ron Lamothe named The Call of the Wild. In his study of McCandless's death, Lamothe concludes that McCandless ran out of supplies and game and starved to death and was not poisoned by eating the seeds of the wild potato.

A survival show set in Alaska, entitled Out of the Wild, is inspired by the story.

The Christopher Johnson McCandless Memorial Foundation, headed by McCandless' parents Bille and Walt, with the editorial and writing input of family and friends, released the 2010 book and DVD Back to the Wild. The Photographs & Writings of Christopher McCandless. The material includes hundreds of McCandless' previously unseen pictures and journal entries. Jon Krakauer has written a piece in the book's introduction, while Hal Holbrook - who appeared in the Penn film - narrates the DVD.