While Oscar glory didn’t quite come Robert Redford‘s way despite rave reviews for "All Is Lost," the veteran and legend is continuing with a string of projects on the go. Earlier this year he took a rare blockbuster turn in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," he’s currently filming "A Walk In The Woods" with Nick Nolte, and now he’s going to put on his producer hat for another project.
Redford will help get an adaptation of Peter Shelton’s “Climb to Conquer: The Untold Story of WWII’s 10th Mountain Division Ski Troop” off the ground. The story follows "the U.S. Army division’s little-known victory in the mountains of Italy that had soldiers scale the treacherous rock walls of Riva Ridge and conquer a German position that was previously considered untouchable. It enabled the Allied forces to finally break the stalemate in Italy." Kurt Johnstad ("Act Of Valor," "300: Rise Of An Empire") will write the script. [Variety]
Roman Polanski is currently in Poland prepping his next feature, a biopic about Alfred Dreyfus, and it will be bigger in scale than his last two, mostly contained efforts, "Carnage" and "Venus In Fur." With a $40 million budget, and the promise of "top British and Hollywood actors" things are moving swiftly along, with scouting underway, and Polanski reportedly living in Krakow puts it all together. But there’s one caveat he wants before cameras roll. "Both the artistic and technical conditions proposed by Polish studios fulfill expectations," Polanski’s producer Robert Benmussa said. "But the final decision ultimately depends on the legal security of Roman Polanski in Poland." Basically, Polanski wants assurances he won’t be extradited to the United States. We shall see what becomes of this request. [THR]
Directors John Requa and Glenn Ficarra, of "Crazy Stupid Love" fame, will do the "Taliban Shuffle" with Tina Fey. The movie will center on a journalist who arrives in Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2002, falls for the culture and way of life, but must confront her fears as the stability of the region begins to get shaken up. [The Wrap]
Peter Webber ("Girl With A Pearl Earring") will direct "The Piano Tuner." The 1886-set tale "follows a piano tuner who receives a strange request by the British War Office to deliver a rare grand piano to a legendary British Officer in the remote jungles of northeast Burma." Pre-production will start later this year. [Screen Daily]
