‘King’s Speech’ Producers & Sunstar To Film Man’s Quest To Find His Mother

Don Groves is a Deadline contributor based in Sydney.

Indian-born Saroo Brierley spent 25 years searching for his birth mother, from whom he was separated at age 5. He found her last year and has penned an autobiography to be published by Penguin later this year. See-Saw Films’ Emile Sherman and Iain Canning (The King’s Speech, Shame, Top Of The Lake) and Sunstar Entertainment, which reps Brierley, announced Thursday (Oz local time) they will produce a movie based on the book. No screenwriter or director is attached. Brierley was adopted by a family in Hobart, Tasmania where he still lives. He searched for his birth mother using Google Earth and childhood memories of his Khandwa hometown. See-Saw’s latest film Tracks, which recounts the true story of Robyn Davidson’s trek across the Outback, starring Mia Wasikowska and Adam Driver and directed by John Curran, is in post. Formed in 2010 by Andrew Fraser, Daniel Starling and Shahen Mekertichian, Sunstar Entertainment announced last year it would co-produce with Brookwell McNamara Entertainment True Spirit, the saga of Australian sailor Jessica Watson who in 2010 at age 16 became the youngest person ever to sail solo around the world. That film is due to shoot in Sydney and the Gold Coast later this year, directed by Soul Surfer helmer and BME principal Sean McNamara. Paramount has Australian rights. Sunstar manages Watson. Sunstar is also developing Inmate 002, the true story of Australian David Hicks, who spent 5½ years at Guantanamo Bay accused of supporting terrorism. - Don Groves

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