
Director
David MacKenzie (“
Hallam Foe“) has boarded the psychological drama “
Stain In the Snow,” an adaptation of the 1948 novel by
Georges Simenon, which Germany’s Studio
Hamburg International is producing.Mackenzie will move to “Stain” after finishing his U.S. feature film debut, the sex comedy “Spread” starring
Aston Kutcher and
Anne Heche.
Studio Hamburg is currently developing the script together with
Chorion, the UK-based executors of the Simenon estate. Shooting on the $11 million- $14 million pictures is planned for 2009 in Germany.
Studio Hamburg’s
Malte Grunert and
Sytze van der Laan will produce with Chorion receiving an executive producer credit.
Set in an unnamed country obviously based on Nazi-occupied France, the novel is about a naive boy who descends into psychosis and depravity. It was previously adapted for the screen by
Luis Saslavsky as “
La Neige etait sale” (1952).
Simenon was one of the most prolific and acclaimed writers of the 20th century. His books have sold more than 600 million copies worldwide and dozens have been made into films.