With Gerard Butler, Iran film 'Septembers of Shiraz' gains heat

When we saw Gerard Butler on the big screen in the fall, he was flying off to a world trouble spot in Machine Gun Preacher, in which he played a real-life missionary-cum-mercenary in the Sudan.

Get ready for another fact-based period story, also set in a far-flung international hotspot, from Butler, who this time around will be involved as a producer.

Butler is gaining momentum in Hollywood for The Septembers of Shiraz, the movie version of Dalia Sofer’s well-regarded debut novel from a few years back. The project recently signed up a director, the Brazilian Heitor Dhalia (the coming-of-age tale “Adrift,” the recent thriller “Gone”), according to a person familiar with the project who was not authorized to talk about it publicly. The film will be based on a script by Hanna Weg, who also wrote the upcoming action thriller The Bricklayer for Butler. Casting is underway, with the film expected to lock down its leads in the coming weeks.

Though Butler will serve only in a producerial capacity, the film counts heavy involvement from the actor's camp. Also producing are Alan Siegel and Danielle Robinson, who work closely with Butler at his production company (Siegel first optioned the book), as well as Heidi Jo Markel, who is collaborating with Butler on his upcoming romantic dramedy Playing the Field and his White House thriller Olympus Has Fallen.

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