EXCLUSIVE: Producer Sam Okun and his Sam Okun Productions banner have optioned worldwide film and TV remake and sequel rights to a pair of classic films directed and produced by three-time Oscar nominee Otto Preminger: 1959’s Anatomy of a Murder and 1962’s Advise & Consent.
The former courtroom drama based on Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Voelker’s novel watched as an upstate Michigan lawyer defended a soldier who claimed he killed an innkeeper due to temporary insanity after the victim raped his wife. The drama starring James Stewart, Lee Remick and Ben Gazzara landed seven Academy Award nominations upon its release, including Best Picture, Screenplay and Actor.
Advise & Consent was a political thriller based on Allen Drury’s 1959 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, in which the polarizing search for a new Secretary of State had far-reaching consequences. Henry Fonda, Charles Laughton, Don Murray, Walter Pidgeon, Peter Lawford, Burgess Meredith and Gene Tierney starred in the film, which was nominated for a BAFTA Award and the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or.
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Okun and his development team led by Sam Okun Productions VP Lachlan Towle will immediately begin their search for writers-directors to update each of the classic films for film and television. Okun will produce the adaptations with Victoria Preminger—the daughter of Otto Preminger, who died in 1986. Along with her father’s legendary films, Preminger also retains rights to all the iconic artwork by artist Saul Bass used for their marketing, along with Duke Ellington’s classic Anatomy of a Murder score.
“I couldn’t be more excited to be working with such classic and beloved films from one of the great directors of all time. I’ve always greatly admired Otto Preminger’s work as he made such bold and controversial statements with his movies, breaking down barriers and crossing boundaries for the period,” said Okun. “ANATOMY OF A MURDER was one of the first films tackling the complexities and repercussions associated with rape; and the thought-provoking political drama ADVISE & CONSENT depicted the inner workings of a controversial Senate confirmation hearing. I’m truly grateful to Victoria for trusting me with such an important legacy of her father’s work.”
“I always loved being on my father’s film sets and enjoyed watching him do what he loved most,” said Victoria Preminger. “It will be a great thrill to be a part of giving these two films a new life.”
Otto Preminger was an Austro-Hungarian-born filmmaker and theatre director who directed over 35 features in his five-decade film career. He first garnered recognition with such ’40s film noir titles as Laura and Fallen Angel, later going on to helm other notable films including Fallen Angel, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Angel Face, Carmen Jones, The Man with the Golden Arm, Porgy and Bess, The Cardinal, In Harm’s Way and Bunny Lake Is Missing.
Sam Okun Productions is currently in post-production on the Catherine Hardwicke drama, Prisoner’s Daughter, starring Kate Beckinsale, Brian Cox and Ernie Hudson. Okun is represented by CAA, Skadden, Arps, Slate and Latham & Watkins in London.
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