Things Change

Recall “Streetwise” (1985), that poignant, Oscar-nominated documentary about young runaways surviving on the cruel streets of Seattle? Optioned for development as a feature by Guber-Peters, it has evolved into a father-son relationship drama, “Quarter Time,” now set in New Orleans and looking very little like the source material.

Guber-Peters is reportedly downplaying, even denying, the connection between the two properties--an exec there who’s handling the project declined to comment. But sources say it definitely has its roots in “Streetwise.”

Among the real-life characters in the documentary was a sensitive young boy who eventually committed suicide after a hopeless prison visit with his convicted father. Those characters, sources tell us, inspired the current draft of “Quarter Time” by Mark Andrus.

The story now focuses on a tough, paroled convict trying to build a life with his long-abandoned son, 13, in the high-crime “combat zone” of the French Quarter. It’s complicated by a search for the boy’s mother and by the mob, which wants dad to do one last job.

Jeff Bridges is co-producing and will star; Chris Menges (“A World Apart”) is in discussions to possibly direct. The project is in “active development,” but Warner Bros. has not set a start date.

The film will be “very gritty, very powerful,” according to Bridges’ personal manager and co-producer, Neil Koenigsberg, who added: “It shows the dark side of what it is to be poor, homeless and a runaway. . . . The boy gets a taste of living on the streets--lured by prostitution, drugs and sex with young girls.”

But don’t expect a downbeat ending.

“This is a story of love blooming, of a man finding his humanity in his child,” Koenigsberg said. “We want the father and son to survive.”