The Family Stone director to remake French hit for Umedia.

Thomas Bezucha, director of comedies The Family Stone and Monte Carlo, has boarded the English language remake of French hit Priceless for European film group Umedia,.

The 2006 romantic comedy, starring Audrey Tautou, proved a box-office smash in France on its original release and went on to be sold in more than 60 international territories.

The remake has been greenlit for production early summer 2014, shooting on location on the French Riviera.

It will centre on Alec, a shy and hard-working English waiter at a grand hotel on the Riviera, who is mistaken for a millionaire and seduced by Lauren, an American girl with expensive tastes, whose lifestyle is made possible only by the generosity of very wealthy men.

When Lauren discovers Alec’s true identity and limited resources, she bolts - but Alec, determined to woo Lauren no matter what the cost, pursues her along the Cote-d’Azur.

When he ends up stranded and broke, he is saved by a wealthy woman-of-a-certain-age and finds himself kept in the same manner as Lauren - who is happy to coach Alec in the rules of the game - until she discovers that her feelings growing for him.

Speaking of Bezucha’s involvement, Umedia founder and CEO Adrian Politowski said: “Tom’s enthusiasm for the project is contagious. He has a fantastic vision on how to adapt the project and we are very much looking forward to collaborating together”.

Bezucha added: “I’m such a huge fan of Pierre Salvadori’s original film, I leapt at the chance to bring that story to another audience.”

Other projects on Umedia’s slate include Universal War One, based on a six-part French sci-fi graphic novel from Denis Bajram, which Marvel published in the US. Scriptwriter Skip Woods, who penned X-Men Origins: Wolverine and A Good Day To Die Hard, has signed on to adapt.

Other titles include thriller Exit 147, starring Taylor Kitsch and directed by Julian Jarrold, which Umedia will produce with Mandalay Vision; and another comic-book adaptation titled Black Ops, a Spy Game-meets-Bourne thriller, which is still in development.

Final negotiations are also ongoing with xXx director Rob Cohen for Risk, which Umedia will produce with Tim Kwok, Ksana Golod and George Parra.

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