On the Road (French: Sur la route) is a 2012 adventure drama film directed by Walter Salles. It is an adaptation of Jack Kerouac's 1957 novel On the Road and stars an ensemble cast featuring Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley, Kristen Stewart, Alice Braga, Amy Adams, Tom Sturridge, Danny Morgan, Elisabeth Moss, Kirsten Dunst, and Viggo Mortensen. The executive producers were Francis Ford Coppola, Patrick Batteux, Jerry Leider, and Tessa Ross. Filming began on August 4, 2010, in Montreal, Quebec, with a $25 million budget. The story is based on the years Kerouac spent travelling the United States in the late 1940s with his friend Neal Cassady and several other Beat Generation figures who would go on to fame in their own right, including William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. On May 23, 2012, the film premiered in competition for the Palme d'Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. The film received mixed early reviews after it premiered at the film festival. The film also premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival in September. In 1947 New York, on the day his father is buried, Sal Paradise is out with his friend Carlo Marx who is, like him, an aspiring writer. They're invited by mutual friend Chad to meet Dean Moriarty, a young car thief from Denver, and Dean's 16-year-old wife Marylou. Sal and Carlo befriend Dean, smoking marijuana with him and visiting a jazz nightclub where they meet saxophonist Walter, who also befriends them. Sal teaches Dean how to write before Dean leaves for Denver with Carlo.After much contemplation, writer's block, and a solemn visit to his father's grave, Sal decides to join his friends in Denver and embarks on the road for the first time. There, Sal meets Camille, an art college student for whom Dean is divorcing Marylou. Carlo starts to question his sexuality, and Carlo and Dean start an affair. Carlo, Sal, Camille, and Dean visit a bar where Dean plays "I've Got the World on a String" on the jukebox, and Camille bonds with Sal. Carlo tells Sal he thinks he might be gay, and he plans to travel to Africa. Sal leaves aboard a bus and meets Terry. The two travel to California, where Terry works on cotton fields with her family while Sal helps. Sal and Terry have a brief affair before Sal, realizing he isn't made to work in the fields, heads back home. In December 1948, Dean, Marylou, and Ed Dunkel arrive at Sal's sister's home in North Carolina, having left Ed's wife Galatea with Old Bull Lee in Louisiana. Sal's family feeds the trio, who haven't eaten for 30 hours, and the next day the trio, Sal, and Sal's mother drive back to New York. The guys and Marylou celebrate New Year's Eve at Carlo's place. Later, Dean convinces Sal to partake in a threesome with him and Marylou. Sal starts kissing Marylou, but Dean's presence makes him nervous, so he tells Dean to go to the kitchen. Following this, Dean and Marylou have sex, while Sal listens in the other room. The next day, they ride off to California and leave Ed at Bull's. When they arrive in San Francisco, Dean drives to Camille's place, leaving Sal and Marylou to rent a room, where the two have sex. The next morning, Marylou leaves to return to her sailor fiancé in Denver, and Sal goes over to visit Dean and Camille, who by now have a child together and are expecting a second. Sal and Dean visit a nightclub, leaving Camille alone to deal with the baby. When they return home, she kicks Dean out. Sal and Dean travel to Denver in search of Dean's father, but have no luck finding him. They then travel back to New York with a tall, thin salesman from whom Dean tries to get money in exchange for sex. Dean succeeds, which gives him and Sal enough money to get where they need to go. Eight months later, Dean asks Sal if he would like to drive to Mexico. When they arrive a kid gets high with them and leads them to a whorehouse, where Dean and Sal dance and have sex with some of the prostitutes. They later roam the streets getting stoned and drunk. However, Sal becomes ill and is hospitalized. Dean then leaves Sal behind, returning to San Francisco to fix his relationship with Camille. After recovering, Sal returns to New York. In 1950, Sal meets Dean in Manhattan, on his way to a Duke Ellington concert. Dean says he travelled across the country by train to see Sal and that he is having another child with Camille. Sal's friends hurry him so they can get on their way, and as Sal turns to leave, Dean asks for a lift to East 14th Street. Sal tells Dean it was good to see him, and leaves him to walk as Sal and his friends depart. When Sal returns home that night, he is able to write his novel about his life on the road with Dean.