Roman Polanski To Direct Olivier Assayas Penned 'Based On A True Story'

Never quite free of his legal problems, and continuing to be something of a divisive figure in the industry, director Roman Polanski has in recent years been on something of a hot streak, in particular knocking out “The Ghost Writer,” “Carnage,” and “Venus In Fur” in quick succession. But three years have passed since the latter, and while at one point it looked like his $40 million biopic about Alfred Dreyfus was good to go to start filming in Poland, that quietly went away. But now it looks like there’s another potential film on his plate.

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Allocine reveals that Polanski will direct an adaptation of the French fiction bestseller “Based On A True Story” by author Delphine de Vigan. Intriguingly, Olivier Assayas (“Clouds Of Sils Maria,” “Personal Shopper“) will be penning the script for this one, which tells the story of a writer, going through a rough period after the release of his latest book, who gets mixed up with an admirer.

That’s about all the details at the moment, but the source material has been a big sensation in France, which is likely why it managed to attract both Polanski and Assayas. And it’s the kind of thing that I can’t imagine producers will want to sit on for too long, and will want to get some big names for. All that said, putting together a movie is like herding cats, so we’ll see where this ends up in the months ahead. [The Film Stage]