Peter Webber to Direct Film Adaptation of "The Colour"

Media Release

From the New Zealand Film Commission
Wednesday, 22 May 2013

Peter Webber to Direct Film Adaptation of Rose Tremain's Epic Novel "The Colour"

"Girl with a Pearl Earring" director Peter Webber is set to direct the adaptation of Rose Tremain's highly acclaimed novel, THE COLOUR, with Tremain writing the screenplay from her own novel.

The film has been developed by producer Ray Marshall's Festival Films and will be co-produced with New Zealand producer Tim Coddington's Nukuhau Films as an official NZ/UK co-production.

Set in the New Zealand gold rush in the 1860's, THE COLOUR charts the fortunes of newly-married immigrants Joseph and Harriet Blackstone, who have travelled to New Zealand with Joseph's widowed mother.  Finding life as a small farmer more difficult than he expected, Joseph sets out to make his fortune in the Gold Rush.  It's a disastrous decision - and one which will change their lives forever.

Ray Marshall: "It's taken 9 years to bring this wonderful book to the screen.  It's an extraordinary story and we are delighted that Peter has agreed to direct.  Tim and I believe that his incredible visual sensitivity makes him the perfect person to bring the book to life."

Peter Webber: "I'm very excited about the prospect of returning to New Zealand to shoot The Colour.  It's an amazing novel, which has an enormous dramatic and visual canvas.  Though it has a period setting, the story is about greed and despair, which gives it a real contemporary resonance."

Tim Coddington:  "The Colour is a great New Zealand story which provides a unique insight into the life of early immigrants, who to a large extent shaped the country.  The South Island's stunning landscape will provide a natural backdrop for Rose's epic story.  With development support from the New Zealand Film Commission we are excited to be making this film with Peter Webber at the helm."

Ray Marshall has just co-produced ARE WE OFFICIALLY DATING, starring Zac Efron and Imogen Poots, and Tim Coddington's recent producing credits include Andrew Adamson's MR. PIP, starring Hugh Laurie and Peter Webber's EMPEROR, starring Matthew Fox and Tommy Lee Jones.

The film will be shot in New Zealand in 2014.

ENDS

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