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Atonement's Joe Wright Adapting Indian Summer

by Alex Billington
March 12, 2009

English director Joe Wright has already lined up his next project, an adaptation of Alex von Tunzelmann's book "Indian Summer". Wright has already finished his work on The Soloist, since Paramount shifted its release from November last year to April, will direct this next. First published in 2007, the book chronicles the last days of Britain's colonial rule in India and the symbolic end of their status as a world superpower. William Nicholson, of Gladiator and Elizabeth: The Golden Age previously, is adapting the book for Wright to direct early next year in India. Working Title will produce and Universal will distribute the film.

While Variety claims that Wright hasn't chosen a cast yet, we should point out that the Times Online rumored last summer that Hugh Grant and Cate Blanchett would star. Obviously Blanchett has since taken on Ridley Scott's Robin Hood, so we can assume she might not be involved anymore. The story in Indian Summer will follow Britain's Lord Mountbatten, with glamorous wife Edwina in tow, as he is sent to oversee the handover of power in the summer of 1947 to Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister.

"After making The Soloist in Los Angeles, I was looking for something that was primarily about the British experience," Wright told Variety. Indian Summer has been described as "an extra ordinary saga of romance, history, religion, and political intrigue," though I don't know if that it'll be enjoyable. I'll argue that Atonement may be Wright's only truly extraordinary film, but I haven't seen The Soloist yet. While I do think Wright is a very talented director, Atonement is his only film (so far) that I've truly thought was exceptional. Hopefully Indian Summer turns out to be more than just another boring period drama.

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Sumit

Joe Wright is a great director and that period in history was a very intense and traumatic time so it should make a for a fascinating film.
Bev

Very interesting. By the way, it's not a novel, it's non-fiction.
Harv

I would say that Pride and Prejudice is on the same level as Atonement. Both are beautiful films with fantastic scores. I don't think Joe Wright's version of P&P gets the credit it deserves because of the BBC version.
Reuben

Pride and Prejudice was fantastic. I liked it even more than Atonement which was a pretty good film too. I'm not really interested in The Soloist, mainly because of Foxx who looks like he's trying too hard for another Oscar.
Corran Horn

I'm curious to see if he gets Ben Kingsley to reprise his role as Gandhi.
tom

As for as I know it's a made up story about real people at a real point in history. That would make it a novel. Unless, of course, there is an index and glossary and attributations of dialogue spoken, etc.