Hey folks, Harry here with the latest on what Lawrence Fishburne is up to - and what's happening with the best selling novel, THE ALCHEMIST! Alright, this news travels all the way from Marrakech... pretty cool!
Hi guys,
I'm an American journalist based in the Middle East and I just returned to Egypt from covering the 4th Marrakech International Film Festival. For the geographically impaired, Marrakech is a city in central Morocco (North Africa). While at the Festival, I saw some great films (notably "Imaginary Heroes" with Sigourney Weaver, and an Israeli/French film called "The Syrian Bride), and also the latest Oliver Stone trainwreck, "Alexander."
But I'm writing you because I have some interesting movie news that I haven't been able to find reported anywhere else. I spoke with Lawrence Fishburne (who came to the Festival to present his great pal Sir Sean Connery with a tribute award), and also Paulo Coelho (Brazilian author of the international hit novel "The Alchemist"). It turns out that the film version of "The Alchemist" will begin filming early next year in Morocco -- several big films have been filmed in Morocco over the past year, including "Gladiator," "Alexander," and the next Ridley Scott-directed "Kingdom from Heaven" starring Orlando Bloom. I went to the set of that movie and saw where they had constructed Jerusalem during the Crusades.
As for "The Alchemist," Fisburne confirmed for me that he is playing the title role. I've read the book and am a huge fan of it, and I had some more questions but he did not seem to want to answer them. In the book, it's implied that the Alchemist character is part of the same spirit (or person, or god or God, depending how you interpret it) that helps a shepherd boy on his quest to find a hidden treasure in Egypt. When I asked Morpheus whether he will actually be playing several roles in the film, he gave me a slight grin and said "If it is written..." Which has a double meaning -- if it's written (literally) in the script, but also a main theme of the book is destiny as seen through the Arabic word "Maktub" which is translated as "It is written." This movie is already destined to be a huge hit, at least at the box office, as the book has been a huge success around the world. We'll have to wait and see whether it lives up to the book's reputation.
If you use this, call me
Chrisderfer
