The Front Row-Rocket Science venture is likely to be a Saudi/Egyptian co-production. The Arabic adaptation will be Yalla Yalla’s second production after Perfect Strangers, which is currently in pre-production.
Yalla Yalla, a joint venture between Dubai-based film distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment and international sales and production outfit Rocket Science, has inked a deal with Gaumont for the Arabic language remake rights to the 2011 international box office smash hit Intouchables. The project will most likely be a Saudi/Egyptian co-production with the director and cast set to be announced soon. The Arabic adaptation will be Yalla Yalla’s second production after Perfect Strangers, which is currently in pre-production.
The deal was negotiated by Ian Cooper of Cooper Law for Yalla Yalla and Cecile Gaget for Gaumont.
Starring Omar Sy and Francois Cluzet, Intouchables follows the story of a paraplegic billionaire who strikes an unlikely friendship with his street smart ex-con caretaker. The film went on to become the highest grossing foreign language film of all time, having grossed over $426m at the Global Box Office and winning several awards along the way. The film was produced by Quad, Ten and Gaumont and currently stands at #39 on IMDB’s All Time Top Rated movies.
Hisham Alghanim and Gianluca Chakra (President and Managing Partner of Front Row Filmed Entertainment) jointly stated: “This would mark the first co-production for a feature film between Egypt and Saudi touching on a universal story that could bridge two entirely different cultures.”
Thorsten Schumacher, CEO of Rocket Science added: “It is a very exciting proposition to be able to bring such a globally recognizable property to the territory – the first of many”.
Front Row Filmed Entertainment will handle all Middle East and North African rights for the title while Rocket Science will be responsible for international sales.
