Sources in Hungary say Raleigh Film Budapest is in negotiations with Angelina Jolie to host the actor’s directorial debut, a love story set against the backdrop of the war in Bosnia.
Jolie was in Budapest scouting locations and house hunting following the Aug 18 European premiere of Salt in Berlin, sources said.
Officials at Raleigh said they could not confirm the negotiations for security reasons. The project would be a high-profile debut for Raleigh’s Hungarian affiliate, which opened in May, and a coup for the newcomer, which also hosted some scenes on Fox’s Monte Carlo earlier this summer.
As previously reported, GK Films is on board for the project, with GK’s Graham King and Tim Headington producing alongside Jolie.
The shoot could start as soon as September, and GK Films said: “the actors will be solely compromised of various ethnicities from the region of the former Yugoslavia.” Croatian-Serbian actor Rade Serbedzija is said to be in talks to join the project; his credits include Middle Men, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, and TV show 24.
It’s not the only potential boom for Hungarian production, as recent months have seen several high-profile productions in Budapest, including Monte Carlo and Warner Bros’ The Rite. Both shoots were serviced by Mid-Atlantic Films, where managing director Adam Goodman is currently in production with Showtime Networks’ series The Borgias. “It’s probably our busiest year since we’ve been in business,” Goodman told ScreenDaily.com. “The trick is to keep the momentum and keep market forces in check.”
Goodman and Pioneer Pictures producer Ildikó Kemény both said their companies were prepping further international projects to shoot this fall.
Hungarian producers are carefully watching developments in the Czech Republic, where a new 20% tax rebate is drawing such major productions as Mission: Impossible IV and The Return Of Xander Cage.
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