Filmmaker brings Polanski story to big screen

By Gregg Goldstein

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Filmmaker Roman Polanski, who has filmed many tragic stories over the years, will soon see his own dramatic life brought to the big screen in an unauthorized biopic.

"Polanski" will include passages about the director's childhood in Poland during the Holocaust; the murder of his wife, Sharon Tate, by followers of Charles Manson in 1969; and his 1977 conviction of statutory rape. Polanski fled the United States rather than go to prison.

"It's a very intense story we're going to carefully base on court documents and public-domain records," said indie filmmaker Damian Chapa, who will write, produce and direct.

"I've looked at the court documents of his (statutory rape) case, and they're so brash and in-your-face. What happened there has overshadowed his whole life yet also been swept under the carpet. I've always been fascinated by his story and couldn't understand why no one has done a movie about him."

Intl. Creative Management, which represents Paris-based Polanski, did not offer any comment.

The project will begin principal photography in January in Belgium, Poland and the U.S., with Chapa playing Polanski's early collaborator, Polish producer Eugene Gutowski. Chapa said the title role will be cast in the next few weeks.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter