13/05/2015 - Adaptation of Julian Barnes’ Booker Prize winning novel to be directed by Ritesh Batra

BAFTA and Oscar winning actor Jim Broadbent will lead the cast of Julian Barnes’ Booker-prize winning novel The Sense of an Ending [+see also:
trailer
film profile], adapted by playwright Nick Payne making his screenplay debut. Ritesh Batra, who won global recognition for his debut feature The Lunchbox [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which played at numerous festivals including Cannes, Telluride, Toronto and London, will direct. The film follows a retired man who receives an unexpected letter from a lawyer that forces him to confront his own past, and unfulfilling present, including the suicide of his childhood best friend. 

FilmNation (US) holds worldwide rights and will present the film at the Cannes market, and will co-finance with BBC Films with Origin Pictures’ (UK) David Thompson and Ed Rubin producing. The film will be shot in the UK later this year.

Batra said, “I am thrilled to adapt one of my favourite novels to screen and to work with a great team. Julian Barnes’ characters are an important part of my life and work, and I am very much looking forward to spend time with them, and with Jim Broadbent whom I have always admired. 

The Lunchbox was BAFTA nominated in the Best Film Not in the English Language category and for Best Film at the London Film Festival.