EXCLUSIVE: The Iron Lady producer Damian Jones is teaming with Pinewood Films’ Steve Christian to produce a biopic of Winnie the Pooh creator AA Milne.
Period drama Goodbye Christopher Robin follows the relationship between legendary UK writer Milne and his son, who bond over the writer’s creation of infamous children’s book character Winnie the Pooh.
High-end TV producer Simon Vaughan, creator of BBC drama Ripper Street and producer of Tom Stoppard’s Parade’s End and Julian Fellowes’ Titanic has written the script, which is generating significant buzz among key financiers.
Pinewood, which has access to the Isle of Man’s $38m Media Development Fund, will be among the main backers on the $10-$15m-budgeted project, which is due to shoot in the UK and on the Isle of Man in summer 2014.
The production is aiming for A-list cast on the project, which moves between 1918 and the 1930’s and charts the creation of character Pooh, the difficult relationship between father and son and the impact of celebrity on the young Robin Milne.
AA Milne named the character Winnie-the-Pooh after the teddy bear owned by his son, who was the basis for character Christopher Robin. His son’s toys also lent their names to most of the other characters in the Pooh world, including Tigger, Eyeore, Piglet and Roo.
The stories have become the subject of numerous Hollywood and independent films and TV properties.
Pinewood and Jones recently teamed on period-drama Belle, starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tom Felton, Matthew Goode, Sarah Gadon, Emily Watson and Tom Wilkinson.
Vaughan’s productions for his outfit Look Out Point received 13 BAFTA TV nominations in 2013, including best series and best mini series.
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