Imagine Documentaries and CNN Films pacted with directors Betsy West and Julie Cohen for the feature documentary on the celebrity TV chef, which has the working title 'Julia.'
Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the worldwide rights to the Imagine Documentaries and CNN Films documentary Julia, about Julia Child, the celebrity TV chef and cookbook author.
The film, directed by Oscar-nominated RBG filmmakers Betsy West and Julie Cohen, will be executive produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer.
"Julia promises to be a major independent movie event in 2021 — entertaining, revelatory and resonant for today,” says Sony Pictures Classics in a statement. Imagine Documentaries and CNN Films are producing the project with Storyville Films under the working title Julia, with the film having started production.
CNN Films will retain the U.S. domestic broadcast rights to the feature produced by West, Cohen and Imagine Documentaries’ Justin Wilkes and Sara Bernstein. The executive producer credits are also shared by Michael Rosenberg, Amy Entelis and Courtney Sexton of CNN Films, as well as Oren Jacoby of Storyville Films.
Julia is being produced with the cooperation of Julia Child's family and The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts. "Michael, Tom, Dylan and the team at Sony Pictures Classics are class acts and we couldn't be more honored to have them join us in the kitchen,” says Wilkes on behalf of Imagine Documentaries.
HBO Max is at work on a drama pilot about the life of Julia Child, and Nora Ephron wrote and directed the 2009 feature drama Julie & Julia that starred Amy Adams and Meryl Streep.
Betsy West and Julie Cohen are repped by CAA.
