…well, not literally at least. But Julia Roberts is set to produce a Shekhar Kapur directed biopic on the legendary English explorer George Mallory.
Mallory is famously quoted as saying he wanted to climb Everest “Because it’s there” (cue movie trailer clip). In hindsight, he may have wanted a better reason than that as, in 1924, on an attempt to reach the summit Mallory disappeared. His body was found in 1999. As such the film will focus on “Mallory’s attempts to scale Everest and the toll it takes on his marriage, as the mountain becomes his obsession.”
Kapur who directed the solid “Elizabeth” and the thoroughly terrible sequel “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” will rely on a script by Kevin Townsend (also producing), Matthew Faulk and Mark Skeet (the latter duo also penned “Vanity Fair.”
It’s an interesting story but Kapur has a shaky track record behind the camera. Let’s just hope the film is more exciting the similarly period/obsession based film “Amelia.”