Bruce Beresford directing Frank Lloyd Wright biopic TALIESIN
Driving Miss Daisy director Bruce Beresford is set to develop and direct his next project. THR reports that he will work on Taliesin, a film about iconic American architect Frank Lloyd Wright from writer Nicholas Meyer.
Taliesin is the name of the architect’s former home and studio in rural Spring Green, Wis., where the “key events in the film take place. The rambling hillside compound, considered a masterpiece of Prairie-style architecture, was the focus of scandal as Wright built it for himself and his married mistress Martha "Mamah" Cheney. In 1914, while Wright was away, a domestic worker murdered Cheney, her two children and four others by locking them inside and setting fire to the building.”
Here is what Beresford had to say about the project:
Taliesin is the name of the architect’s former home and studio in rural Spring Green, Wis., where the “key events in the film take place. The rambling hillside compound, considered a masterpiece of Prairie-style architecture, was the focus of scandal as Wright built it for himself and his married mistress Martha "Mamah" Cheney. In 1914, while Wright was away, a domestic worker murdered Cheney, her two children and four others by locking them inside and setting fire to the building.”
Here is what Beresford had to say about the project:
“It’s a very good script. t doesn’t cover his whole life, just a small section of it, and it doesn’t whitewash him into some sort of saint."
“There’s a documentary by Ken Burns [the 1998 film, Frank Lloyd Wright] that’s quite good, but it’s odd that there’s never been a [feature] film about him.”
The film will be produce by J. Todd Harris, of Branded Pictures Entertainment, and Chicago-based Ed Bachrach, of Kartemquin Films. Money is being raised now for the project, and Beresford is currently scouting locations in and around Chicago. Beresford has someone in mind for the lead role, but stated “We have someone in mind, but I can’t tell you yet.”
I have always been facsinated by Wright's architecture and am interested in seeing this movie. What are your thoughts on this news?