Even with two projects — the sci-fi love story “Perfect Sense” and on-the-fly music-fest-set love story “You Instead” — due to be unveiled this year, Scottish helmer David Mackenzie looks to show no signs of slowing down and is now attached to write and direct an adaptation of prolific Belgian writer Georges Simenon‘s crime novel “The Stain On The Snow.”
The project will see Mackenzie and his Sigma Films shingle reunite with German-based Amusement Park Films‘ Malte Grunert who teamed with the director for his two films due for release this year — both of which screened at the European Film Market in Berlin this week and will likely be unveiled on the festival circuit throughout the year.
First published in 1964, Simonen’s novel follows the story of Frank Friedmaier, a “thief, pimp and murderer. He has never known his father, his mother keeps a brothel. His mind is cold and inhospitable. But Simenon reveals the obsession with self-torture that lurks within it, and explores the intricate psychology of a young criminal, even lending the repellent Frank a chilling grandeur as he faces remorseless interrogation and his fate.” Definitely sounds a fascinating project, possibly in the vein of Anton Corbijn‘s “The American.”
While the story seemingly posits this project as Mackenzie’s next, the director recently revealed that he has “various projects in Norway, Sicily, Boston and London, including a sci-fi adaptation of Toby Litt‘s novel ‘Journey Into Space’” in the works. Guess we’ll have to wait and see but production on ‘Stain On The Snow’ is actually set to take place on location in Germany (not mentioned in Mackenzie’s array of global projects) with a budget in the €5-8m region, partially funded by the U.K. Film Council. [ScreenDaily]
