The Guardian, in its recent story on the “stealth marketing” of the upcoming Narnia movie — whereby schoolchildren will receive promotional materials for the film in the guise of educational materials — passes on this interesting piece of news:
[Walden Media head honchos Cary] Granat and [Michael] Flaherty also had a meeting with deputy prime minister John Prescott, in relation to plans surrounding a biopic, planned for release at the end of 2006, of William Wilberforce (Prescott is, like Wilberforce, a Hull man); 2007 will see a large-scale British celebration of Wilberforce’s achievements, in which Walden plans to be involved with “a solid education programme”, according to Flaherty.
Walden Media has been developing a project along these lines for some time; their web site includes an apparently out-of-date page devoted to the film, which says the upcoming film, called Amazing Grace, will be written by Colin Welland (Chariots of Fire). But a story that appeared in Variety just three months ago says the film will be directed by Michael Apted (Enigma, The World Is Not Enough, the Seven Up series) from a screenplay by Steven Knight (Dirty Pretty Things). The eclectic list of producers currently includes Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line), Patricia Heaton (Everybody Loves Raymond) and Ken Wales (Christy).
And for those who don’t know what Wilberforce’s achievements were, the Walden page sums them up thusly:
Amazing Grace is based on the true story of William Wilberforce, a British statesman and reformer from the early part of the 19th century. This feature film will chronicle his extraordinary contributions to the world, primarily his 20-year fight to abolish the British slave trade, which he won in 1807. He was also instrumental in passing legislation to abolish slavery in the British colonies, a victory he won just three days from his death in 1833.
Could be interesting, not least because it could be the first Walden movie that is not based on a story from another medium.
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