Working into the late evening last night, Ship of Fooles studio head Lucian inked a deal with new producer DTBaum to remake the 1979 dramatic comedy Being There for HTG.
According to Wikipedia:
The [original] film stars Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden, Richard A. Dysart, and Richard Basehart. Douglas won the Academy Awardfor Best Actor in a Supporting Role and Sellers was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role. This was the last Peter Sellers film to be released while he was alive. The screenplay was coauthored by Kosinski and the award winningscreenwriter Robert C. Jones, winning the 1981 British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Film) Best Screenplay Award and the 1980 Writers Guild of America Award (Screen) for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium. It was also nominated for the 1980 Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay.
Lucian reportedly had to encourage DTBaum to make a price request so Lucian could set it before he began negotiating to release the film, to avoid any possible conflict of interest. With a $50 million franchise price set Lucian offered DT $30 million up front to allow him to take out a six month lease on the franchise. The surplus was for DTBaum to buy his first apartment to actually store the franchise.
Lucian also offered his standard deal: 50% of all domestic profits and, assuming the film breaks even on domestic, 75% of all foreign box office. The $30 million advance will not be deducted from DT's share of the profits.
No word yet on casting, obviously a talented lead will be key to step into Peter Sellers' shoes. No release date is set but, with only a six month lease, expect it to be before year's end.
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