Niki Caro’s upcoming production The Vintner’s Luck has made its first pre-sales. It has sold to Icon for the UK and to Dendy for Australia and NZ. Ascot Elite has acquired Swiss rights to the film.
The Vintner’s Luck is an irresistible story of love, wine and angels. It tells the tale of Sobran, a peasant wine-maker in 19th century France and his life-long relationship with an angel as they grapple with the sensual, the sacred and the profane in search of the perfect vintage.
Caro wrote the screenplay with Joan Scheckel, which is an adaptation of the acclaimed New Zealand novel of the same name by Elizabeth Knox.
‘This was such a beautiful script – both moving and profound – and the material could not be in better hands. Icon UK is very excited to be part of this movie,’ says Mark Gooder, President Acquisitions, Icon
‘We are thrilled to be working with Niki, Laurie and all The Vintner’s Luck team on realizing what is simply one of the best scripts we have ever read. We are also excited to be working with our friends at NZ Film once again,’ says Andrew Mackie, General Manager of Dendy.
Pre-production of Vintner’s commences at the end of the year, with principal photography starting in February 2008 in Auckland, New Zealand before moving in March to the Burgundy region of France then to Belgium.
This New Zealand – France co production is being financed by the New Zealand Film Production Fund, the New Zealand Film Commission, the Motion Investment Group of Belgium (Adrian Politkowski), Tokyo-based OLC Rights Entertainment (Masaharu Inaba) and Kortex Cinema of France.
The Vintner’s Luck is an Ascension Films – Kortex co-production. Producers are Laurie Parker, Robin Laing, Niki Caro, Pascal Judelewicz, Ludi Boeken and Jean-François Klein.
International sales are being handled by Kathleen Drumm of NZ Film, the sales arm of the NZ Film Commission.
The Vintner’s Luck stars Jérémie Renier (The Child), Gaspard Ulliel (Young Hannibal), Vera Farmiga (The Departed) and Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider).
Director of Photography is Denis Lenoir (Paris Je T’aime), production designer is Academy Award®-winning, Grant Major (The Lord Of The Rings trilogy; Whale Rider) and the editor is long time Caro-collaborator, David Coulson (Whale Rider; North Country) with special effects by Harry Harrison.
[release from the New Zealand Film Commission]