Fishburne To Helm “The Alchemist”

Actor Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix Trilogy) has been signed on by The Weinstein Company to both direct and star in Paulo Coelho’s fantastic novel titled “The Alchemist.” The announcement was made at this year’s Cannes over the weekend. It had been rumored for over two years that Fishburne would star, direct and write for the film, but the news from producer Harvey Weinstein on Sunday finally confirmed the long-gestating rumors to be true.

Like the book, the film will tell the story of an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels to Africa in search of his dream and meets the alchemist along the way. The novel is a beautiful tapestry woven with intrigue, love, a spiritual journey and lots of action.

When asked to comment, Fishburne stated that he is “the luckiest man on the planet”, to not only be able to play the alchemist, but to be given this opportunity by Harvey Weinstein to also direct and be heavily involved with the development of the script.

Rumored to be starring alongside Fishburne is Penelope Cruz, however, she has yet to commit to the project.

Paulo Coelho has seen many past attempts at adapting his script for a big screen project only to have them fall by the wayside due to a poor rendering that didn’t meet his high standard. This time, however, he is pleased with Harvey Weinstein’s efforts and issued a statement saying, “I am very happy that my book will be filmed in the way I intended it to be and I hope the spirit and simplicity of my work will be preserved.”

Full production is scheduled for this summer with an eye on a 2009 release date.