| Andy Serkis, who played the part of Gollum in the fantasy trilogy and will play two parts in this winter’s blockbuster King Kong, will direct a film about drug addiction called Addict.
Addict is an autobiography by Stephen Smith, who spent years addicted to amphetamines and was homeless in various cities in the UK. He spent several months in the Kirkton area of Dundee during 1978.
Plans to turn Stephen’s book into a film were first mooted six years ago when Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz developed the idea and offered Robbie Williams £1 million to play the lead role.
However, the first script of the 1.2 million selling book didn’t work and the project fell apart.
Gary Kurtz left the project and the film was delayed for several years while Stephen wrote a screenplay, which attracted Andy Serkis to the film.
The £5 million needed to make the film has been secured from Russian investors.
People are being asked to apply to be extras in the film, which will film for a couple of days in Dundee, in August.
Stephen (62) said, "I spent three or four months in Kirkton. I got on a train in London to sleep and I was thrown off the train for not having a ticket in Dundee.
“Andy and I will come to Dundee in three or four weeks to scout out locations and interview people to be extras.
“Dundee will be in the film for about seven minutes of screen time, which will be two or three days of shooting in the city in August.”
Stephen finally got over his addiction when he met a German student, who later became his wife, who encouraged him to give up his drugs-and-drink lifestyle. He is now a successful property developer in Germany and undertakes voluntary work with recovering addicts.
Anyone interested in being an extra should write to Westworld International Films, 157 Gloucester Avenue, London, NW1 8LA, and include their phone number. |
