Nicole Kidman, Director Philip Noyce Set for 'My Wild Life' (AFM 2011)

The long-gestating drama My Wild Life, centering on animal conservationist Dame Daphne Sheldrick, is finally taking strides towards the big screen.

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Nicole Kidman is attached to star as the elephant advocate while Philip Noyce is on board as director. Jeff Stockwell (The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys) wrote the script.

Mandalay’s Peter Guber and Cathy Schulman will produce along with Geyer Kosinski and Chris Miller.

Foresight Unlimited has picked up foreign sales rights to the Mandalay Pictures project and will begin selling it at AFM.

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The project had been set up at New Line and always attracted talent: Nick Cassavetes and Walter Salles were attached at certain points while actresses such as Julia Roberts and Kate Winslet circled.

Mandalay is in the process of extricating it from New Line and is in negotiations with Universal to have the film distributed domestically with a date sometime around the 2012 holidays. Telepool has already picked up the rights for Germany.

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Production is scheduled for first quarter 2012 on location in Africa. National Geographic nature photographers Dereck and Beverly Joubert will be involved in photographing the elaborate nature sequences, according to the producers.

Sheldrick and her husband David devoted their lives to protecting the animals of Kenya’s Tsavo National Park. Sheldrick is credited with uncovering how to formulate the milk needed to feed orphaned elephants. Her autobiography is scheduled to be published in March.

Remington Chase, Stepan Martirosyan, Mark Damon and Tamara Stuparich De La Barra will executive produce.