New Century to make Cotton tale

Egyptian production company New Century Production will produce Cotton And Mice – the first project to team director Amr Salama and the Arab world’s biggest star Ahmed Helmy.

The film is a comedy but the filmmakers and star are keeping the story under wraps, which is customary with Helmy’s projects. Scripted by Mostafa Helmy, the film also stars Yasmine Rais and Dalal Abd El Aziz.

Currently in production, the film will be given the widest day-and-date release ever across the region at the end of July when it goes out on 100 screens.

Salama’s credits include a segment of documentary Tahrir 2011: The Good, The Bad, And The Politician and recent hit Excuse My French, about a Christian kid who is forced to conceal his religious identity at an Islamic public school.

“The Egyptian film industry has staged a robust comeback this year and New Century Production is committed to contributing to it with a strong film slate,” said New Century general manager Ahmed Badawy

New Century is also producing Ahmad Abdalla’s Décor, a stylish black-and-white drama about a set designer scripted by Mohamed Diab (678); Out Of The Ordinary, a supernatural drama written and directed by veteran Egyptian filmmaker Daoud Abdel Sayed (Land Of Fear); and The Last Violet Romantic, the second collaboration between New Century and Yousry Nasrallah following the director’s Cannes 2012 competition title After The Battle.