Vendôme Pictures, producer of best picture Oscar winner Coda, has hired Morten Tyldum to direct Ibelin based on the inspirational life of online gamer Mats Steen.
Kyle Killen, whose credits include Halo, will write the screenplay about Steen, who died aged 25 from Duchenne muscular dystrophy. What his parents did not know and discovered on the day of his funeral was the youngster’s popularity, as people from all over Europe turned up to pay their respects to a beloved member of the World Of Warcraft community, where he went by the name Ibelin.
Vendôme Pictures’ Philippe Rousselet and Fabrice Gianfermi are producing alongside Tyldum and Guri Neby for Neby-Tyldum AS. Principal photography is earmarked to take place in the US.
Tyldum, whose credits include Imitation Game and Headhunters, said: “Ever since hearing about Mats and meeting his family, this is a story I felt needed to be shared with the world. Making this story into a film with such an extraordinarily talented writer as Kyle Killen, and producing together with the exceptional Philippe Rousselet at Vendôme and my long time producing partner, Guri Neby, feels like a dream.”
Rousselet added: “Ibelin, like CODA was, is a very special, rare, simple and yet very moving story. I fell in love with it from the moment Morten and Guri told me all about Mats’ life story. Now, I just can’t wait to share it with the world and between Kyle and Morten, could not be more excited about our creative team.”
The deals were brokered by Jackie Eckhouse and Emmanuelle Berdugo of Sloss Eckhouse Dasti Haynes LawCo. for Vendôme; Michael Schenkman of Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher for Neby-Tyldum AS and Morten Tyldum; and Danny Greenberg (WME) for Killen.
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