Neil Jordan

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'Ondine' nets cash, cast
Neil Jordan sets up financing for drama
Source: Variety

Director Neil Jordan has set financing and cast for "Ondine," which begins shooting mid-July in West Cork, Ireland.

Jordan has tapped newcomer Alicja Bachleda to play the title character, alongside Colin Farrell.

After being shopped at Cannes, "Ondine" has secured its financing, predominantly by Gotham-based financier/producer Wayfare Entertainment, in association with RTE, Irish Film Board and Section 481 Investment (a local Irish tax incentive). Wayfare Entertainment's Ben Browning will produce with Jordan and Octagon Films' James Flynn.

Scripted by Jordan, "Ondine" tells the story of a fisherman in southwest Ireland who hauls up a live girl in his nets. Ondine is a mythological sea nymph, and theories about the girl's origins blossom as she transforms the lives of the fisherman and local townsfolk. Farrell, last seen in "In Bruges," will play the fisherman.

Mexican-born and raised in Poland, Bachleda starred in the Marco Kreuzpaintner-directed Jose Rivera-scripted 2007 sex trafficking drama "Trade," based on the Peter Landesman investigative article.

Wayfare managing partners Peter Rawlinson and Michael Maher will be executive producers along with Ned Dowd.

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Neil Jordan Wanders Through Gaiman's Graveyard
Source: CHUD.com

Interview with a Vampire and A Company of Wolves helmer Neil Jordan is poised to direct a screen adaptation of Neil Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book."

It was reported in October that Framestore, a UK-based FX house, picked up the rights to the story. Gaiman, out promoting Coraline, told The Today Show today about Jordan's involvement.

"The Graveyard Book" focuses on the life of Nobody Owens, a boy raised by the dead in a cemetery. It was published by Harper Collins and released last year. Jordan was once attached to direct an adaptation of Joe Hill's Heart-Shaped Box, but he backed out last summer.

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Borgias to replace 'Tudors'?
Showtime eyes possible successor to show
Source: Variety

Murder, adultery, thievery, family intrigue and great costumes: Sounds like grist for a pay cable drama, and that's what scribe-helmer Neil Jordan intends to make of the infamous Borgia clan for Showtime, DreamWorks Television and Robert Zemeckis' ImageMovers banner.

Jordan ("The Crying Game," "The Brave One") has penned a script and a bible for a prospective series that the pay cabler is eyeing as a possible successor to "The Tudors." Jordan will exec produce with DreamWorks TV's Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank, along with Zemeckis, Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey of ImageMovers.

Showtime execs are high on the project, revolving around the notorious Italian noble family that ran amok during the Renaissance, but have yet to formally greenlight a pilot. The pay cabler is in the market for a historical costume drama as it prepares to bid farewell to "The Tudors" after its fourth and final season runs in the spring.

Jordan's project is the second Borgias project to emerge this year. Tom Fontana, Chris Albrecht and Anne Thomopoulos have been shepherding a Euro production that is awaiting a greenlight decision from the French and German banners set to finance the 12-episode project.

Jordan has been pursuing a feature project on the notorious Italian noble family for years. He most recently had Colin Farrell and Scarlett Johansson attached to star in a project for ImageWorks (Daily Variety, Nov. 3, 2005).

DreamWorks principal Stacey Snider is credited with suggesting that Jordan's vision might be better served as a pay TV series rather than a feature. There's a wealth of material in the story of Rodrigo Borgia, who served as Pope Alexander VI from 1492-1503 before dying suddenly (reportedly after drinking from a bottle of his own poisoned wine), and his murderous and larcenous children Lucrezia, Cesare and Juan. Cesare's efforts to become ruler of Italy helped inspire Macchiavelli's treatise on ruthlessness, "The Prince."

Perhaps it's appropriate to the material that there may be a Borgias brawl brewing for the Jordan and Fontana projects. Fontana recently turned in revised drafts of the first two segs, and a final greenlight decision from backers Lagardere Entertainment and Canal Plus, among others, is expected to come within a few weeks. The plan is to shoot the series in English to facilitate its sale to a U.S. outlet.