Wash Westmoreland’s period biopic Colette has set sights on Keira Knightley for the star role, according to Deadline.
Should the pieces fall into place, the two-time Academy Award nominee will assume the role of Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, the French novelist celebrated for penning Gigi back in 1944 – during the twilight years of World War II, no less. It was a novel that proved to be a timeless classic, even nabbing an Oscar when it was adapted into a musical feature in 1958 with Leslie Caron.
Born in Belle Epoque, Colette “lived through both World Wars, including the Nazi occupation of Paris; her Jewish husband Maurice Goudeket was arrested by the Gestapo in 1941.” Living in fear of the Nazi regime, experiencing the throes of war first hand ought to make for a meaty role for Knightley to tackle.
In terms of Colette, Deadline notes that the project is poised to reunite Killer Films and Number 9 Films, the production banners that helped nurture Carol into a Oscar frontunner. With that in mind, Pam Koffler and Christine Vachon will produce on behalf of the former studio, while Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley assume producing duties for the latter. It’s understood that Westmoreland penned the script alongside his Still Alice co-writer and late husband, Richard Glatzer.
Colette is still very much coming to form under Number 9 and Killer Films. Knightley, meanwhile, was recently part of the ensemble for Baltasar Kormákur’s adventure flick Everest, which arrived on the heels of her eye-catching turn opposite Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game.
