Berenice Bejo is reportedly attached to star in Ken Scott’s ‘The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir’.
The 40-year-old actress – who was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in ‘The Artist’ – is set for a role in the upcoming adventure-fantasy film alongside Indian star Dhanush, Laurent Lafitte, Erin Moriarty, Barkhad Abdi and Abel Jafri, according to Variety.
The movie from Scott – who previously helmed ‘Starbuck’ and ‘Delivery Man’ – is based on French novelist Romain Puertolas’ 2014 best-selling debut book ‘The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe’.
The comic tome tells the story of Ajatashatru Oghash Rathod, a 38-year-old fakir who tricks his local village in Rajasthan, India, into believing his possesses special powers and he cons them into paying for him to fly to Paris, France, to buy a bed of nails from an Ikea store.
When in the city he meets a woman named Marie Riviere who he intends to rip-off but then falls in love with and then goes on a series of unusual adventures beginning in an IKEA wardrobe.
Speaking about the his big screen version, Scott said: "There are many aspects that interested me, there’s obviously comedy, a lot of comedy, some very poetic moments. It’s the story of this magician/thief who grew up in this small neighbourhood in Mumbai, India, he sets sail on this journey of self-discovery throughout Europe."
Speaking of the castings, Scott added: "What’s great is I get to work with a great actor, Dhanush, who is a huge star in India, he’s a great actor, but also a great dancer, a great singer, he has a very unique way of dancing and moving, he’s just very charming."
TF1 Studio is selling the rights to the film, which was initially set to be directed by Marjane Satrapi until Scott came on board a few months ago to rework the script and direct the movie.
The film is to be produced by Luc Bossi and Jaime Mateus-Tique at Brio Films and Vamonos Films, meanwhile TF1 Studios, La Belle Company, Aleph Motion Pictures, Scope Pictures, and Little Red Car are all co-producing.
The film has already been picked up by SquareOne in Germany. La Belle Company will release the Movie in France.
Filming is expected to start in May and the cast will travel to various locations including Mumbai, Paris, Brussels and Rome.
Berenice Bejo joins Ken Scott’s The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir
