Sarah Polley
Actress-turned-director Sarah Polley is adapting Margaret Atwood's award-winning novel Alias Grace for the big screen.
The project once again pairs the Toronto filmmaker with an acclaimed Canadian writer – Polley's celebrated directorial debut Away From Her was based on Alice Munro's short story The Bear Came Over the Mountain.
It earned Polley an Oscar nomination for best adapted screenplay.
Atwood's Giller Prize-winning book is based on a true story about a notorious Canadian 19th-century murder.
The project is one of 29 scripts being backed by Astral's Harold Greenberg Fund, including a new political drama from Paul Haggis called Paris; a thriller from Splice director Vincenzo Natali called Nobody; the First Nations story Empire of Dirt from Defendor director Peter Stebbings; and the drama The Lion's Share from Edwin Boyd creators Nathan Morlando and Allison Black.
Meanwhile, Astral says Giller-winning novelist Joseph Boyden will make his screenwriting debut with Red, an adaptation of a graphic novel by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas.