Pierce Brosnan, Martin Campbell to Adapt Ernest Hemingway Novel (Exclusive)

Brosnan will star in and Campbell will direct 'Across the River and Into the Trees.'

Pierce Brosnan and Martin Campbell, who first teamed up for the James Bond movie Goldeneye, are reteaming to tackle the adaptation of an Ernest Hemingway novel.

Brosnan will star in and Campbell will direct Across the River and Into the Trees, a feature that will be produced by Robert MacLean, John Smallcombe, Kirstin Roegner and Claudia Bluemhuber. William J. Immerman will executive produce.

BAFTA winner Peter Flannery and Oscar-nominated Michael Radford (Il Postino) wrote the script, which tells the story of an American officer serving in Italy right after World War II, facing news of his terminal illness with stoic disregard. Determined to spend his weekend in quiet solitude, he commandeers a military driver to facilitate a simple duck hunting trip and a visit to his old haunts in Venice. As his plans begin to unravel, a chance encounter with a young countess begins to kindle in him the hope of renewal.

Across the River was published in 1950 and was the legendary author’s last full-length novel to hit shelves in his lifetime. The story contains such signature Hemingway themes as love, war, youth and age.

Hemingway based the two leads on real people: The officer was his friend Colonel Buck Lanham, a decorated soldier whose heroics the writer saw first-hand when he was a correspondent, and the woman was a daughter of an aristocrat named Adriana Ivancich with whom he became infatuated (there was a 30-year difference between them).

An October start in Italy is being planned.

CAA is handling domestic sales, while Tribune Bay Entertainment and Silver Reel Partners will co-introduce the title at Berlin’s European Film Market and handle international sales.

The Brosnan-Campbell pairing will actually be the third outing for the duo. On top of Goldeneye, the pair have teamed up for The Foreigner, an action thriller also starring Jackie Chan that is currently shooting in London. The movie, to be released by STX, is scheduled to wrap in March.