03/11/2005

UK actor/director Kenneth Branagh famous for his sumptuous screen adaptations of the works of Shakespeare is going to direct a major feature film based on Mozart’s classic opera The Magic Flute with filming starting on January 23, 2006 at London’s Shepperton Studios. The $27m project will be produced by the French Pierre-Olivier Bardet for his company Idéale Audience who previously brought to the screen the opera of Madame Butterfly directed by Frédéric Mitterrand. Stephen Wright will act as executive producer on behalf of the Peter Moores Foundation and international sales will be handled by Paris-based Celluloïd Dreams.

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Conceived by Branagh with a newly-adapted libretto written by actor/director Stephen Fry, The Magic Flute also has world-renowned conductor and recipient of France’s Legion d’Honneur James Conlon attached as musical director. He will conduct the Chamber Orchestra of Europe with a cast composed of rising young opera stars such as Joseph Kaiser (Tamino), Amy Carson (Pamina) and Ben Davis (Papageno). Other crew members include Academy Award nominated production designer Tim Harvey, director of photography Roger Lanser and editor Neil Farrell.

Commenting on the announcement of this ambitious project set to coincide with the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, the director of Love’s Labour’s Lost said: "This is a very exciting departure for me as a filmmaker. Working with Sir Peter Moores and his Foundation to help bring this masterpiece to a different audience is an immense and thrilling challenge".
Sir Peter Moores added: "For a long time I had thought of making a film of The Magic Flute in English. I thought it could reach a wider audience far outside the opera house. So it was wonderful when Kenneth Branagh agreed to direct the film. He is a visionary filmmaker with a proven record of translating theatrical experiences into film and is working with the singers in enormous detail and with infectious enthusiasm".