British producer Stephen Evans, the man behind such films The Madness of King George and The Wings of the Dove, is preparing a big-budget biopic about Princess Diana, reports the Guardian.
Since her tragic death in 1997, numerous biographical films about ‘the people’s princess’ have been made, however this will be the first big-budget project (more than $ 50 million).
To help ensure authenticity, the producer has hired Ken Wharfe, the former head of Diana’s security, and her personal secretary, Patrick Jephson. Evans has hired crime novelist Philip Kerr to write the screenplay, however the lead actress and director have not yet been chosen.
Evans is confident the movie will be a hit. “What is quite clear is that her life was an amazing life. She was a wagonload of monkeys [mischievous] but she was also an amazing, fascinating, ballsy woman. You don’t often get a movie like this where you know, that if you can make it work, it is bomb proof."
In development for two years, the project will reportedly focus on the difficult period of her life during her marriage to Prince Charles and their subsequent divorce in 1996 – but will not tackle her relationship with Dodi al-Fayed.