Editor’s note: Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series debuts and celebrates the screenplays of films that will appear in this year’s film awards races.
David Magee had to work for two source materials A man named Ottothe Columbia Pictures remake of the hit Swedish film directed by Marc Forster A man named Ove. Written and directed by Hannes Holm, this original film, which received two Oscar nominations in 2017, is based on Fredrik Backman’s 2014 New York Times bestselling novel.
In each case, the plot revolves around a quarrelsome man – in the latter case played by Tom Hanks as Otto, not Ove, and in this case in Pittsburgh, not a small Swedish town. Otto is in deep grief after losing his wife to cancer; he has given up being happy and kind to others and would especially like to go to the great afterlife with his beloved. That’s before a new family, led by Mariana Treviño, moves in next door and Otto slowly begins to thaw.
The project reunited Magee with Forster, who previously collaborated in 2004 Find Neverland, which was one of seven Oscar nominations for Magee for his adapted screenplay. He would achieve his second nomination in the category in 2013 life of pi.
“All we had to do was make sure it was written and directed right,” Hanks recently told Deadline about the approach to the remake. And so nothing would happen until then [screenwriter] Dave McGee and Marc Forster came and said, “We think we know why we want to do this film. Do you agree?” And thank God they did.”
Sony stepped in to acquire worldwide rights to it Otto at last year’s European Film Market for a market record $60 million. The movie opened in six theaters in LA and New York on December 30 and earned the highest per-screen average of the year. After a limited expansion last weekend, it’s now priced at $5.8 million domestically, with a wide release starting Friday.
Hanks, Rita Wilson, Gary Goetzman and the original Swedish filmmaker Fredrick Wikstrom Nicastro are producers.
Click below to read Magee’s script.
Author: Lot Jackson
Source: Deadline
Ashley Root is an author and celebrity journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for all things celebrity, Ashley is always up-to-date on the latest gossip and trends in the world of entertainment.
