Kapur steps into Minghella’s shoes

Shekhar Kapur, the maker of films like, ‘Elizabeth’ and ‘Elizabeth: The Golden Age’, is all set to step into the shoes of the late filmmaker, Anthony Minghella. Kapur will direct the last piece of writing by Minghella, ‘New York, I Love You’, an ode to urban living.

Minghella, the Oscar winning director of ‘The English Patient’, succumbed to cancer in a London hospital last week. Before going in for cancer surgery, he had asked Kapur to direct the film, as Minghella felt Kapur was the most likely to adhere to his creative vision.

Minghella was supposed to begin shooting his segment of the episodic film from April in Manhattan. The cast of the film is yet to be decided. Earlier Minghella’s son, Max, was to star in the film, but the young actor withdrew from the film a couple of weeks ago.

The film which is said to be a ‘spiritual love story’ is to be set against the backdrop of New York’s Upper East Side. The film’s producers have confirmed Kapur’s involvement with the project.

Shekhar Kapur, earlier a Bollywood actor and director, made a mark in Hollywood with his twin Elizabeth projects, which also garnered two Best Actress nominations for Cate Blanchett. Apart from the Minghella film, Kapur is also set to direct the cinematic adaptation of Issac Asimov’s ‘Foundation’ series for Fox.

The future of other Minghella projects, including Weinstein Co.’s ‘The Ninth Life of Louis Drax’ and Miramax’s ‘The Resurrectionist’ remains uncertain.