Source:ICM

February 2, 2007

Academy Award-winning director Roman Polanski has signed on to direct Pompeii, the New York Times best-selling novel by Robert Harris (author of "Archangel" and "Fatherland"). Pompeii tells the story of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79 through the eyes of a young engineer, Marcus Attilius, who is sent to repair the greatest aqueduct in the Roman Empire, which brings water to 250,000 people on the Bay of Naples. Attilius not only has to fight the corrupt forces that control the town of Pompeii, but ultimately the overwhelming power of nature itself.

The film is set to begin principal photography in Italy in the summer of 2007.

Polanski won an Academy Award in 2003 for The Pianist. The director was also nominated for an Academy Award for Chinatown (1975) and Tess (1981), in addition to numerous other critical accolades. He most recently directed Oliver Twist in 2005.

Polanski and Robert Benmussa are producing the film for RP Productions along with Alain Sarde. Robert Harris is adapting the screenplay from his own novel. Polanski is represented by ICM.

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