UPDATED: Summit Entertainment will handle distribution in North America of Roman Polanski’s next film, "The Ghost Writer." Summit plans to open the movie in limited release on Feb. 19, with expansions scheduled for March 5 and March 19.
Summit International, which acted as sales agent for the film, has a longstanding relationship with the director, repping rights to his films outside North America.
Polanski currently is on house arrest at his chalet in Switzerland, awaiting the disposition of his extradition hearing on charges he raped a 13-year-old girl in 1977.
Polanski produced "Ghost Writer" with Robert Benmussa and Alain Sarde.
The movie is based on Robert Harris’ novel "The Ghost" and tells the story of a former British prime minister (Pierce Brosnan) holed up on an island off the Eastern seaboard of the U.S. in midwinter, writing his memoirs. A professional ghostwriter (Ewan McGregor) who comes to help him finish the book is drawn into political and sexual intrigue involving Lang’s wife (Olivia Williams) and his aide (Kim Cattrall). The cast also includes Jim Belushi, Robert Pugh and Tom Wilkinson. Alexandre Desplat scored the film.
In a joint statement, Summit Entertainment co-chairmen Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger said, “We had the good fortune to recently screen ‘The Ghost Writer’ in Paris and were amazed at the film Roman and his team have created. He once again has proven himself as one of the world’s most talented filmmakers and master of suspense creating a very modern thriller and we look forward to sharing this film with North American audiences.”
