Mimi Leder has signed on to direct a new film adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front, the classic 1929 World War I novel written by Erich Maria Remarque.
Lesley Paterson and Ian Stokell wrote the screenplay and will produce the film, which explores the physical and emotional effects of trench warfare on a 19-year-old German soldier and his friends in uniform. Lewis Milestone directed a version in 1930 that won Oscars for best director and best picture.
The filmmakers are looking to fill out the project’s financing as they start casting for a 2012 shoot.
Repped by CAA and Industry Entertainment, Leder recently wrapped filming on the season finale of the upcoming HBO series Luck. In film, she last directed Pay It Forward for Warner Bros. in 2000. She has also directed The Peacemaker and Deep Impact.
Leder is also developing the film I Dismember Papa from a screenplay that she wrote with her brother Reuben and niece Stephanie that is loosely based on her relationship with her filmmaker father, Paul Leder (he directed the 1972 horror film, I Dismember Mama).
