Steven Spielberg and Zaillian collaborated on Schinder's List. Spielberg also produced and directed the movie Munich.

It is hoped that the film will be ready by 2015, in time for the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The date of the beginning of the Armenian Genocide is conventionally held to be April 24, 1915, the day that Ottoman authorities arrested some 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople.

The Armenian Genocide has also been called the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, the Great Crime. The number of Armenian deaths is generally held to have been between one and one and a half million.

Turkey continues to deny the existence of the Armenian Genocide ever occurred. Instead, Turkey says that while that during World War I, many Armenians died, the number of Armenian victims has been greatly inflated.

The country continues to face calls to accept the events of that period as genocide. Reportedly, to date, twenty countries have officially recognized the events of the period as genocide. Most historians also accept this view.

Gevorg Gevorgyan, Director of the Armenfilm studio and of the National Film Center in Yerevan said, "By the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide we must show the world a film that would be even more impressive than Mayrik or Ararat. Armenian and foreign actors will play in the film."