On The Road has been a long time coming, but the wait is almost, finally, over.

With Francis Ford Coppola buying the rights for the film in 1978, it took a long time for the project to find Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries) to direct. However, it has taken Salles almost as long to finally get this production on the road to being made. However it looks as though On The Road might be worth the wait.

Being an adaptation of the '50s beatnik novel written by Jack Kerouac, the film uses barely disguised characterisations of Kerouac, Neil Cassady and their friends and acquaintances that they make on their trip.

On this roller-coaster journey of self-discovery, aspiring writer Sal Paradise (representing Kerouac) and charismatic drifter and ex-con Dean Moriarty (representing Cassady) set off travelling around the US and meet some inspirational people along the way.

Paradise soon learns about Moriarty’s free-spririt, and his illustrious relationships with women, as his young wife Marylou (representing LouAnne Henderson) tags along for some of the ride, and he also has a relationship with Camille (representing Carolyn Cassady), whom you can see him dancing with in the latest trailer.

The impressive and extensive cast list includes Sam Riley as Sal, Garrett Hedlund (Tron Legacy) as Dean, Kristen Stewart (Twilight Saga) as Marylou, Kirsten Dunst as Camille, Viggo Mortensen as the Old Bull Lee (standing in for William S. Burroughs), Elisabeth Moss (Peggy in Mad Men) as Galatea Dunkle, Alice Braga (City of God and I Am Legend) as Terry and Amy Adams as Jane.

Salles has brought a tangible sense of melancholy to this film, as questions are raised as to whether the travelling characters are far more adrift than they are free. On The Road premiered earlier this year at Cannes Film Festival and is due to open in UK cinemas on 12 October 2012.

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