Kate Beckinsale to star in “The Chocolate Money” drama

PanARMENIAN.Net - In a pre-Berlin market move, Adam Shankman has come on board to direct Kate Beckinsale in mother-daughter drama “The Chocolate Money”, Variety said.

Cornerstone Films will be launching international sales to buyers at the European Film Market in Berlin next month. UTA is repping domestic rights.

The project is based on Ashley Prentice Norton’s novel with Emma Forrest adapting. The story is set in 1980s New York, centered on the relationship between a rich chocolate heiress and her precocious young daughter.

The mother lives a free-wheeling, rock-star lifestyle, and her extravagant parties are legendary. Dazzled by her mother’s situation and constantly craving her attention, the daughter finds escape in reading beauty magazines and taking photos.

Beckinsale is producing with Mar-Key Pictures President Leslie Urdang, Miranda de Pencier and Kelly E. Ashton. Producers plan to begin shooting in New York City in the spring.

Shankman is directed from a script that Emma Forrest co-wrote with Beckinsale.

Beckinsale starred last year in “Underworld: Blood Wars” and “Love & Friendship.” Shankman’s credits include “Rock of Ages,” “Hairspray” and “A Walk to Remember.” He was in talks in October to direct “Enchanted” sequel “Disenchanted” for Disney.

Urdang said, “Adam Shankman’s emotional accessibility and his gorgeous style will create a world we will not be able to resist.”