Rights for Ralph Fiennes’ Rudolf Nureyev biopic acquired by Sony
Sony Pictures Classics has acquired rights to Ralph Fiennes’ film The White Crow.
The film is based on Julie Kavanaugh’s book Rudolf Nureyev: The Life, directed by Fiennes and written by David Hare (The Hours, The Reader). HanWay Films, who is handling worldwide sales, co-financed the film together with BBC Films and Rogue Black.
Ballet dancer Oleg Ivenko plays Rudolf Nureyev, with Adèle Exarchopoulos (Blue is the Warmest Colour) as Clara Saint, and Fiennes as the Russian ballet coach, Alexander Pushkin. The cast also includes Sergei Polunin, Chulpan Khamatova, Olivier Rabourdin, Raphaël Personnaz, and Louis Hofmann.
The film shows Nureyev’s defection in 1961, masterminded by his great friend, a 21-year-old Parisian, Clara Saint. The finale is at Le Bourget airport in Paris, when ‘The White Crow’ makes his leap to freedom.
Sony Pictures Classics said,
Ralph Fiennes has fully captured the times and early life of Rudolph Nureyev in the most thrilling way possible with the pulsing energy of the man himself. Also, The White Crow is especially timely. From Nureyev’s rich life experience in Russia and Paris to his suspenseful defection to the West, we are immersed in an authentic story we’ve never seen before. This is one of those rare movies that crosses so many borders culturally as a satisfying entertainment. We look forward to bringing Ralph’s movie to the public.
