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PRODUCTION UK

Stephen Fry nabs rights to In Lucia’s Eyes

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British actor Stephen Fry has bought the rights to the Dutch novel In Lucia’s Eyes from bestselling author Arthur Japin, Dutch media report. The actor most famous for his role as Oscar Wilde in Brian Gilbert’s Wilde has plans to turn the property into a film as well as a play through his company Sprout Productions.

In Lucia’s Eyes was an award-winning title in the Netherlands that sold over 300,000 copies. It has been translated into 15 languages and tells the life story of Lucia, the childhood girlfriend of the man who would later become the world’s most famous seducer: Giacomo Casanova.

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After contracting smallpox during her teens, Lucia flees the Italian household where she works and finally settles in Amsterdam, where she becomes a successful madam of a bordello. Casanova, who never bedded her because she was too young, meets her again years later in the Dutch capital, where she is forced to wear a veil to hide her disfigured face.

Fry, who besides an acting career and a string of successful novels has also directed the feature Bright Young Things [+see also:
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, is developing the project as a sumptuous costume drama for director Iain Softley (The Wings of the Dove). It is not yet known if he will also star in the film, though he is attached to star in Jane Austen Handheld, another upcoming Sprout Productions title.

Author Japin is no stranger to the world of cinema; he has collaborated twice with director Ineke Smits. Their latest project, The Aviatrix of Kazbek (see news), is currently in post-production.

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