Next Vikas Swarup adaptation underway

John Hodge (screenwriter of Danny Boyle’s Shallow Grave and Trainspotting) has signed on to script the film, which is in the $15 million range and is being developed by BBC Films. The new project is being put together by Paul Raphael’s Starfield Productions. Billed as “Agatha Christie meets Elmore Leonard,” it is a whodunit about the murder of a corrupt playboy. There are six suspects for the killing, all with motives to have committed the crime. It is due to shoot next year in Delhi.

The new Swarup adaptation headlines Starfield’s fast burgeoning production slate. Other projects Raphael is pushing include The Night Climbers, an adaptation of the novel by Ivo Stourton that has been written by Raphael’s father, Oscar winning writer Frederic Raphael (Eyes Wide Shut, Darling) Raphael is also producing The Fugitives, a UK/German/Turkish coproduction scripted by Ben Hopkins (Simon Magus, The Market Place) and Ceylan Unal which will be directed by Hopkins.

Meanhile, Starfield’s sister company London-based production outfit Har (in which Raphael is partner with Maya Hariri and Joffrey Hutin) has several projects on the boil.

Among these is Omid and George, a UK/French/Lebanese coproduction. This is being made through Har and Fantoscope Productions by award winning director Philippe Arcatingi. The UK Film Council and Film4 are on board to develop the film, which features Georges Khabbaz, one of the Middle East’s biggest stars, in his first English role. He plays a fish out of water who arrives in the UK to inherit the wealth of his distant uncle. Co-star is popular UK comic actor Omid Djalili.

Har also expects to have epic, Second World Wat set romance We Called It Persia from Iranian director Ramin Niami (Somewhere In The City). Another Har project being pushed forward is Two Gentlemen Sharing, a comedy about a high-flying gay couple from London who cause consternation when they move into a small English country village.