Pierre Boulle’s ‘The Virtues Of Hell’ And ‘Planet Of The Men’ Rights Acquired For Film, TV
deadline.comEXCLUSIVE: Uri Singer and Aimee Peyronnet are teaming to acquire two works from the estate of French author Pierre Boulle, who wrote the novels The Planet of the Apes and The Bridge Over the River Kwai, which both were turned into iconic Hollywood movies.The pair have acquired Boulle’s 1974 novel The Virtues of Hell, as well as Planet of the Men, an unproduced feature screenplay Boulle wrote after the first Planet of the Apes movie premiered in 1968 with Charlton Heston starring.
The plan is to turn Virtues of Hell into a film, and adapt Planet of the Men for TV.The Virtues of Hell centers on John Butler as he returns from war and turns to heroin to cope with his PTSD.
He is pulled into a secret drug operation and tasked with developing a technique for producing the purest heroin ever created, all while the DEA, his past psychiatrists and lovers, drug smugglers and his own trauma try to chase him down.As for Planet of the Men, Boulle penned the script following the 1968 premiere of Planet of the Apes, which was written by Michael Wilson and Rod Serling.
Boulle’s new screenplay was designed to continue the series, but it was never produced. The Apes franchise continued with four sequels; later, Tim Burton did his version in 2001 and the franchise got another reboot in 2011 steered by Matt Reeves.The Bridge Over the River Kwai was adapted into the David Lean-directed The Bridge on the River Kwai in 1957.
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