Apple Original Films has taken worldwide rights to true-story mountaineering drama Tenzing, from See-Saw Films and director Jennifer Peedom.
Based on the famous 1953 ascent of Mount Everest by Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary, the film is set to star Tom Hiddleston as Hillary and Willem Dafoe as English expedition leader Colonel John Hunt. Casting is underway for the role of Norgay.
Peedom, whose previous projects include Bafta-nominated documentary Sherpa, has a close relationship with the Tenzing family and the Sherpa community and has been working on a Norgay biopic project for almost a decade.
The project gained momentum in the run up to this week’s Cannes market with the casting of Hiddleston and Dafoe. Rocket Science and See-Saw’s in-house Cross City Films unit had been set to handle international sales at the market, with Cross City and UTA representing the film for the US.
Tenzing is written by Luke Davies and will be produced by Liz Watts, Emile Sherman and Iain Canning for See-Saw, alongside Desray Armstrong, Peedom and Davies. Simon Gillis, David Michôd and Norbu Tenzing (son of Tenzing Norgay) will serve as executive producers.
Apple and See-Saw have previously collaborated on Bafta-winning AppleTV+ streaming series Slow Horses, currently in production on its fifth season.
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