18th Century Chess Match for Adrien Brody, Isabelle Adjani, and Rachelle Lefevre

Long-time cinematographer Pierre Gill (he was on the money with Denis Villeneuve’s Polytechnique) will be making his feature film debut directing Adrien Brody, veteran actress Isabelle Adjani, and Twilight alumni Rachelle Lefevre in VK – all the actors are of course attached at this point. The period piece, Canadian-French co-production with a 35 million dollar price tag that will begin lensing in either 2010 or Spring of 2011.

Written by Doug Taylor, the period piece is about baron Wolfgang von Kempelen who created “The Turk” – a fake chess-playing machine constructed in the late 18th century. When a gifted engineer’s comfortable life is ruined by a rival, the chess-playing automaton he invents gives him and his family a chance to start a new one. Inspired by the true story of Baron Von Kempelen (Brody), who traveled through Europe to play against famous historical figures, from Catherine II of Russia to Benjamin Franklin, the mechanism appeared to be able to play a strong game of chess against a human opponent. The Baron is summoned to Saint Petersburg to present the Turk to the empress Catherine II (Isabelle Adjani). Rachelle Lefevre will play his wife, Annette. 

Gill has won more than a dozen awards in his career as a Dp and picked up an award from the American Society of Cinematographers for his television work with Hitler: The Rise of Evil.

Seneca Prods and Locomotion Films’ Brigitte Janson will produce with Pascal Sevais, while Denis Martel and Marc S. Grenier are exec producing. Jean-François Bouchard, the creative director of the Cirque du Soleil will be the artistic director.