'Crowley' lures Harrison Ford to CBS

Actor to play maverick scientist in next film

By TATIANA SIEGEL

Harrison Ford is moving from battling communists as Indiana Jones to fighting diseases as a maverick scientist for his next bigscreen project.

Ford will star in CBS Films' drama "Crowley," which Tom Vaughan ("What Happens in Vegas") is in negotiations to direct.

Film is based on the true story of John and Aileen Crowley, whose two children had a rare genetic disorder. Rather than give up hope that nothing could help his children, John Crowley found a researcher (Ford) with a potential cure. Ford also will executive produce the film.

Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher ("World Trade Center") are producing alongside Carla Shamberg. Robert Nelson Jacobs ("The Water Horse," "Chocolat") wrote the screenplay, which was inspired by a Wall Street Journal article and subsequent book, "The Cure," by Geeta Anand.

CBS is fast-tracking the project and is eyeing a start date as soon as possible. Film likely would be the first project to go into production for the fledgling CBS Films, which is headed by prexy-CEO Amy Baer.

Project had been set up at Sony, where Baer most recently worked as exec VP of production. When the material became available, Baer jumped at the opportunity to bring it to CBS Films.

"This is a story that has universal, relatable themes -- particularly the lengths parents would go to protect their kids," Baer said.

Shamberg and Sher enjoyed success bringing another true story to the bigscreen via "Erin Brockovich."

Ford next stars opposite Sean Penn in the immigration drama "Crossing Over."

He is repped by UTA.

Vaughan is handled by CAA.

Read the full article at:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117987104.html

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