Rosenblum options Rand novel 'Living'

By CAROLE HORST

TORONTO --- Ayn Rand's 1936 novel "We the Living" has been optioned by Chicago-based Rosenblum Prods., run by lawyer-producer Marvin J. Rosenblum.

Russia's Rustam Imbragimbekov (who co-scripted "Burnt by the Sun") will pen the script. Film will be shot in St. Petersburg, Russia --- the novel's setting and Rand's birthplace. Rosenblum and partner Inna Gotman, based in Los Angeles, will produce.

The price was not disclosed.

Set in the post-revolutionary Soviet Union, "We the Living" follows an 18-year-old Russian girl who is torn between the love of an aristocrat and a commissar. Although in the context of melodrama, Rand's novel explores how the lives of the Russian people are changed under the totalitarian regime of the Soviets.

Rand once claimed that her first novel "is near to an autobiography as I will ever write." Rosenblum sees "Living" as Rand's "only real filmmable book," noting its visual style and epic elements. He also noted the lead role as being one of Rand's strongest female characters, although he would not comment on whether any actresses had been approached for the role.

Among his past pic credits, Rosenblum executive produced the Michael Radford-directed "1984."

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