‘Lost on a Mountain in Maine’ Making Its Way To The Big Screen

I remember being in Mrs. Baker's 5th-grade class at the Asa C. Adams School in Orono when we first read "Lost On A Mountain in Maine."

This was the edition. The picture of the young boy against the backdrop of the Maine wilderness was captivating.

As we read through the book, learning about the harrowing experience that a boy our age (12-year-old Donn Fendler) had in a place many of us had been to (Katahdin and Baxter State Park), it was almost unbelievable that he survived being lost in the Maine wilderness for 9 days on his own.

What was almost as cool as the story itself was that Fendler, for a long time, visited schools and classrooms around the state, recalling details and answering personal questions connected with his infamous Maine adventure.

It really did read like the stuff of movies, which is why it's exciting to think that soon, a whole new generation will not only be able to discover Fendler's story on the pages of his book, but also on the big screen!

Because now his tale is finally being made into a movie.

According to the Lost On A Mountain In Maine Facebook Page, the movie's production team has just finished the principal photography for the project.

"Here is a photo of our Director, Andrew, on the last night of filming with our “Donn Fendler” played by the amazingly talented Luke David Blumm. Stay tuned in the coming weeks and months for more updates as we continue to work on telling this incredible story."

An earlier post from the page explains that Balboa Productions, the production company run by Sylvester Stallone himself, is helping to bring this story to theaters everywhere.

Written by Luke Paradise and directed by Andrew Kightlinger, there has yet to be a date given for the film's release.

Sadly, Fendler passed away in 2016. He was 90 years old.

His daughter, Joanie Fendler, expressed how she thought her dad would feel about seeing his tale of survival make it to the movies.

"My dad would be so happy to see this happening."