The Weinstein Co. Acquires Worldwide Film Rights To 'AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY'

Daily Variety reports that The Weinstein Co. has acquired worldwide film rights to the Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winning play "August: Osage County" and will produce a feature adaptation. 

TWC co-chairman Harvey Weinstein will join Jean Doumanian and Steve Traxler as producers of the pic, with playwright Tracy Letts doing the adaptation.

Weinstein told Variety that his company will fully finance and distribute the film with an eye toward a 2011 release.

Weinstein and Doumanian have already received calls from reps of interested actresses who've seen the play reports Variety.

The trade paper details that, Doumanian and Traxler, who are lead producers on the Broadway production with Jeffrey Richards and Jerry Frankel, made a deal with Letts during the summer to work on a script (Daily Variety, Aug. 6). Doumanian said she hopes to have a Letts-penned screenplay within two or three months. Weinstein is also an investor in the stage play. 

Richards and Frankel will exec produce the film.

"August: Osage County" becomes the latest project that Weinstein has boarded as producer. He's teamed with Marc Platt to produce the Rob Marshall-directed adaptation of "Nine," which Relativity is financing, and he's also one of the producers of the Tarantino-directed "Inglourious Basterds," a co-production with Universal Pictures that is lensing in Europe.

Tracy Letts' August: Osage County, winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize, Tony, Drama Desk, New York Drama Critics' Circle, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Play – recently played its 400th performance on Saturday, November 8th 2008.

The show will begin performances at the National Theatre in London later this month, with the original Broadway cast, including Tony Award winners Deanna Dunagan and Rondi Reed, reprising their roles. The show will also be embarking on a national tour this summer, with its first stop being the Curran Theatre in San Francisco.

Directed by Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award Winner Anna D. Shapiro, August: Osage County is the explosively funny comedy-drama focusing on the Weston family following the disappearance of the family's patriarch.

Voted #1 play of the year by Time, The Associated Press, Entertainment Weekly, and TimeOut New York, Charles Isherwood of The New York Times has called August: Osage County "The most exciting new American play Broadway has seen in years."

August: Osage County performs Tuesday-Friday at 7:30PM, Matinees on Wednesday and Saturdays at 2:00PM, Saturdays at 8:00PM and Sundays at 3:00PM. Tickets can be purchased at Telecharge.com, or by calling (212) 239-6200. Outside the NY Metro (800) 432-7250. The Music Box Theatre is located at 239 West 45th Street.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

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