Chinese remake rights to Uberto Pasolini’s family drama Nowhere Special have been acquired by Shanghai-based General Dream Studio through Sino-European organisation Bridging The Dragon (BTD).
General Dream Studio is the production company of Chinese filmmaker Wen Muye, whose uplifting drama Nice View is China’s submission for the best international feature Oscar and took more than $210m (RMB1.5bn) following its release in February. His drama Dying To Survive was also a box office hit, grossing $438m (RMB3.1bn) in 2018.
It has not yet been confirmed whether Wen will direct the remake of Nowhere Special.
The drama, also written by Italian filmmaker Pasolini, was a UK-Italy-Romania co-production and premiered in Venice’s Horizons section in 2020, going on to sell widely for Beta Cinema. It stars James Norton as a single father who attempts to find a new family for his four-year-old son after learning he only has a few months left to live.
“The film explores themes such as the father-son relationship, the struggle between life and death, and social class differences,” said Chinese producer He Bin. “In addition to the moments of great humanity, we were also impressed by its in-depth social observations. These are universal topics that can be understood by a wide audience even in China, and that is why we believe the film has great potential to be localised.”
It would mark the latest feature to be facilitated by BTD, which promotes European cinema in Asia through an annual Sino-European Lab that showcases projects from both regions. Based in Beijing and Berlin, it is an official partner of Cannes’ Marche du Film and Berlinale’s EFM for their China events.
Referring to the organisation’s growing role as a dealmaker, BTD managing director Cristiano Bortone told Screen: “This is one of the new activities we have started since the outbreak of Covid which made traveling and dealmaking harder with China.
“Because of the difficulties, our China office has become more active in connecting European companies and Chinese buyers. We scout for good titles, we hear the needs of local producers and help connect and negotiate with European companies.”
Bortone is the producer of Chinese director Hou Zuxin’s Rome-set romantic comedy The Italian Recipe, which was spawned by BTD and was only the second official co-production between Italy and China. It opened the Udine Far East Film Festival in April.
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