Paramount may raise Ford's "K-19" project

May 30, 2001
Variety
by Dana Harris and Cathy Dunkley

Paramount Pictures is in talks to secure North American rights to Harrison Ford's $80 million-plus submarine drama, "K-19: The Widowmaker," which is currently in production.

Fox-based producer New Regency Entertainment had initially outbid the studio in January, but was then unable to come to terms with Intermedia, the film's financier and producer. Sources on all sides said the parting was amicable.

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Christopher Kyle and Louis Nowra, "K-19" is based on the true story of the U.S.S.R.'s first nuclear ballistic submarine, which was sailing in the North Atlantic in 1961 when crew members discovered the reactor's cooling system had failed, leading to a possible meltdown. Liam Neeson and Peter Sarsgaard also star.

The "K-19" production has faced several behind-the-scenes hiccups, including a lawsuit claiming that Intermedia stole the project from another production company, as well as complaints from sub survivors and their families that the script put the sailors in an unfairly harsh light.

Ford earns $25 million against 20% of the box office revenues for his role. However, the name of his character has been changed from Captain Zateyev -- the name of the real Russian sailor -- to Alexi Vostrikov.

Fair Use Notice

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Harrison Ford Web is making such material available in an effort to promote research. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.