The Weinstein Company (TWC) has acquired the U.S. rights to director Cédric Jimenez’s Nazi-era thriller “HHhH,” the company announced Wednesday.
“HHhH: Himmlers Hirn heisst Heydrich,” or “Himmler’s brain is called Heydrich,” follows two exiled operatives, a Slovak and a Czech, who killed Nazi official Reinhard Heydrich and changed the course of history. The film explores the lives of Jozef Gabcík and Jan Kubiš from their dramatic escape from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to their fatal attack on Heydrich and their own brutal deaths in the basement of a Prague church.
Jason Clarke, Rosamund Pike, Jack O’Connell, Jack Reynor, and Mia Wasikowska are attached to star. Alain Goldman of Légende Films and Daniel Crown of Red Crown are producing the film. Principle photography began earlier this month in Budapest.
David Farr, Audrey Diwan, and Cédric Jimenez wrote the screenplay for the project, which is an adaptation of Laurent Binet’s 2012 international bestseller of the same title, which was the winner of the prestigious Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman.
“Laurent Binet’s novel was an impeccable, profoundly gripping piece of historical fiction that was destined to be made into a film,” Harvey Weinstein said. “It’s in the hands of an extraordinarily intelligent, bold group of filmmakers and actors and we can’t wait to see it come to life.”
The deal for “HHhH” was negotiated by Dan Guando, Michal Podell Steinberg and James Gold for TWC with WME and Alain Goldman.