Ol Parker, whose credits include The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, is set to direct a feature for Concordia Studio about a catastrophic 1964 earthquake in Anchorage, Alaska.

Parker will adapt the screenplay from Jon Mooallem’s book This Is Chance!: The Shaking Of An All-American City, A Voice That Held It Together following a deal between

Concordia acquired rights to develop and produce the feature from UTA on Mooallem’s behalf. Co-founder Jonathan King will produce the project, with Mooallem serving as executive producer.

The book recently featured on The New York Times podcast The Daily and tells of the unlikely role played by a part-time radio reporter after a spring 1964 earthquake of magnitude 9.2 devastated parts of Anchorage.

“I know from our time together on the Marigold Hotel movies that Ol Parker has a rare talent for understanding characters under stress and then bringing them to life with warm affection and emotional depth,” said King.

Parker wrote and directed Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again starring Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, and Stellan Skarsgård, and Fox Searchlight’s Imagine Me & You with Piper Parabo and Matthew Goode.

He also was the writer of Fox Searchlight’s The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and its sequel, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. He recently wrote the upcoming Netflix feature film A Boy Called Christmas starring Kristen Wiig, Judi Dench, Sally Hawkins, and Jim Broadbent.

Davis Guggenheim and King launched Concordia Studio earlier this year and the initial slate includes 2020 Sundance selections Boys State, Time, and Berlin entry Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets.

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