A deal is imminent for helmer Jon Amiel to direct Paramount Pictures' new oater, "North of Cheyenne."
Pic is being produced by Alan Ladd Jr.'s the Ladd Co., which has just reteamed with "Braveheart" scripter Randall Wallace on "The Hand of God" (Daily Variety, Feb. 8), also set up at Par.
"Cheyenne" is understood to be loosely based on Thomas Hardy's 19th century melodrama, "Far From the Madding Crowd," though pic will be set around modern day Wyoming, not Wessex. Drama centers on seduction and desertion in the American West, following the travails of a young, headstrong woman loved by several different men.
Amiel, the helmer of such pics as "Sommersby" (1993) and "Copycat" (1995), most recently directed Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones in Fox's "Entrapment" (1999), which grossed more than $87 million domestically.
Script for "Cheyenne" was penned by Leslie Bohem ("Dante's Peak," "Daylight"), with a rewrite from Robert Benton and, most recently, the tyro writing team of Brandon Camp and Mike Thompson (who penned "Steinbeck's Point of View," which is set up at Bel Air Entertainment).
No cast is attached as yet, and Amiel's commitment would be subject to casting he'd approve.
Amiel is repped by ICM.
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