Back at the end August, news surfaced that Freida Pinto, Tahar Rahim, Mark Strong and Antonio Banderas were all in discussions to join Jean-Jacques Annaud’s “Black Thirst.”
It looks like those discussions all panned out as Deadline reports that everyone is on board the film that is now titled “Black Gold.” The film will use Hans R. Ruesch’s 1957 novel “South Of The Heart: A Novel Of Modern Arabia” as a launching pad for the story that “revolves around the rivalry between Arabian rulers in the 1930s just as oil is being discovered, and the rise of a young, dynamic leader who unites the various tribes of the desert kingdoms.” Pinto will play an Arabian princess in the film but it’s unknown what the other roles are at this time.
Production on the film begins on October 18th with a worldwide Christmas 2011 release date being planned.