Taylor Hackford (Ray) has been non-existent in the world of film other than offering his time to his wife, Oscar-winner Helen Mirren as she took home all the gold this spring, but that is about to change as Disney and Beacon Pictures have brought the director on board to helm Good Luck, Mr. Anthony.
The pic was penned by Beacon chairman Aryman Bernstein and Terry Jastrow. The pic is described as a fact-based film about the South African game preserve owner who snuck into Iraq after the war began in 2003 and rescued the animals in the Baghdad Zoo. The film tells the story of Lawrence Anthony, who owns and operates Thula Thula, a game preserve in South Africa. While watching the invasion of Iraq, he recalled that when wars begin, zoo animals are usually killed or die of neglect.
If you think this sounds like some big shot esec guy getting his script greenlit think again, Hackford doesn’t jump on trash and Bernstein also co-wrote The Hurricane, which wasn’t a huge hit but any film with Denzel will be respected by me.
