Gerard Butler to produce 'The Septembers of Shiraz'

Gerard Butler to produce 'The Septembers of Shiraz'

Evil Twins, the Gerard Butler and Alan Siegel production shingle, have acquired the film rights to the critically-acclaimed novel The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer.

The novel takes place in the aftermath of the Iranian revolution, where rare-gem dealer Isaac Amin is arrested, wrongly accused of being a spy. Terrified by his disappearance, his family must reconcile a new world of cruelty and chaos with the collapse of everything they have known.

Sofer was born in Iran and fled at the age of ten to the United States with her family.While Butler will be producing, he will not star in the film.

While Butler is producing, he will not star in the production.

For more on Sofer and The Septembers of Shiraz, visit the Harper Collins website.

http://www.examiner.com/gerard-butler-in-national/gerard-butler-to-produce-the-septembers-of-shiraz

that should make a nice film festival round

If they bought the film rights, it could be years before it is made into a screenplay and filmed. The article doesn't mention a screenplay, so I'm assuming it has yet to be written. The story sounds interesting. Hope it doesn't take forever to get a good screenplay and then fund. It could be another "Burns" - and take forever to complete, if at all.

I would rather see these type of films be made than "Playing The Field" type fluff....

And, yes, I am glad Butler isn't going to act in this one. I don't see how he could fit into this type of story without actually detracting from the subject matter. His accent would be a huge issue as well as his current reputation of either being an action star or a romcom lackey. Just my opinion, of course.

I hope MGP and Coriolanus show another side of his acting abilities and move him away from the current mediocre fluff that he has done lately. If he stays away from the "Slide/Playing the Field" type genre and continues with more interesting, challenging roles he may actually grow professionally and become a more successful actor in the long run. I think he needs to concentrate on that because he can only play the rougish, womanizer type for so many more years. He is getting older and there are many good, younger actors that will be competing for those parts in the future.

If he can move in that direction, then he would be better positioned to be considered for parts in more serious films. The movie paying public might then be more inclined to see him in those roles, but presently I just don't think he can pull it off.

MGP, Coriolanus and other roles might change that.

Again, just my opinion.

Nay wrote:

Maybe it is best for all concerned that GB not attempt an Iranian/Persian accent ....

It might end up sounding something like his Dracula audition tape wierd accent!!!