When we first heard that Stephen Frears was considering making The Burial for Sony’s Screen Gems arm, we figured he wasn’t waiting for history to play itself out and was ploughing ahead with a final film about Tony Blair’s career.
Political gags aside, The Burial is actually based on the true story of Willie Gary, a black personal-injury lawyer in Mississippi. He fought a case for a local funeral home owner who claimed a massive industry leader had swindled him. With the help of the man’s lawyer – a staunch racist - Gary managed to nab a $260 million victory.
Based on a New Yorker mag article, Quills scribe Doug Wright has written the script, which had been lingering around the halls of Warner Brothers before canny Screen Gems president Clint Culpepper snapped it up.
Sounds like something that’s right up Frears’ alley, with a pungent political aspect and plenty of solid drama elements. Let’s see if he bites…
