According to the Hollywood Reporter, Icelandic film director Baltasar Kormákur is in talks with American film producer Harvey Weinstein to direct the Weinstein Co.’s next film. It’s based on the the true story of the 1858 kidnapping of a six-year-old Italian, Jewish boy by the name of Edgardo Mortara, who was subsequently brought up as a Catholic. Weinstein is said to want Robert De Niro to play the role of Pope Pius IX.
Among the films Weinstein has produced are Pulp Fiction, Sex, Lies and Videotape, The Crying Game and Clerks.
The only problem is that Steven Spielberg is planning to direct a film on the same subject for Amblin Entertainment.
Weinstein and Spielberg are said to have considered joining forces, but in April, Spielberg decided to work on the project on his own. The Hollywood Reporter states that although no deals are in place for De Niro or Baltasar Kormákur, the plan is to begin the production of Weinstein’s film in January. Spielberg’s version is planned to be filmed in the spring of 2017, likely with Mark Rylance playing the pope’s role.
