Sidney Kimmel Entertainment will finance and produce New York Times bestselling thriller novelist Gregg Hurwitz’s (pictured left) spec script Legacy in partnership with Double Nickel Entertainment for celebrated British theater director Thea Sharrock’s feature directorial debut, it was announced by SKE President Jim Tauber.
This is SKE’s first production since financing and producing the Focus Features’ release of The Place Beyond the Pines, starring Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper and Eva Mendes. Sidney Kimmel and SKE President of Production Matt Berenson will produce with Double Nickel’s Jenette Kahn and Adam Richman (executive producers of Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino). Tauber and Bruce Toll will executive produce.
Says Kimmel: “Thea is a star in the world of contemporary British theater, and her transition to film in my opinion should be as seamless as Stephen Daldry’s and Sam Mendes’. Her taste and talent are perfectly suited to Gregg Hurwitz’s own unique sensibilities, and specifically to his script, which echoes elements of Shakespeare and Noel Coward. We are all very excited about this project and are currently speaking to talent and potential distribution partners.”
A powerful family story that combines the humor of Little Miss Sunshine with the profundity and tragedy of American Beauty, Legacy is equal parts comedy, drama, and thriller about a single mother whose 12-year-old son persuades her to commit the perfect crime.
Sharrock, who became the youngest artistic director of Londons Southwark Playhouse at the age of 21, has since directed such successful West End productions as “The Bodyguard,” “The Sunshine Boys” starring Danny DeVito, and “Equus” starring Daniel Radcliffe, which she subsequently took to the Broadhurst Theater on Broadway. She also directed “Henry V” starring Tom Hiddleston for Sam Mendes’ Shakespeare BBC series called “The Hollow Crown.”
An internationally bestselling novelist and comic-book writer, Hurwitz’s twelve thrillers include “Survivor,” “You’re Next,” “They’re Watching,” “Trust No One,” “The Crime Writer,” and the upcoming “Tell No Lies.”
