Russian Sci-Fi Novel ‘Amphibian Man’ to Be Adapted for Big Screen

MOSCOW — An English-language screen adaptation of the classic Russian science fiction novel Chelovek-Amfibiya (Amphibian Man) is to be jointly produced by Russia’s Trikita Entertainment, Italy’s Lumiq Studios and Germany’s Bavaria Film Partners.

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“Our film combines sea adventures, romance, science fiction and tragedy,” producer Yuri Krestinsky was quoted as saying by Proficinema.ru. “This is an eternal, Romeo-and-Juliet-type story. But in this case, it is based on a novel by Alexander Belyayev, Russia’s best known science fiction author, who is often referred to in the West as ‘Russian Jules Verne.’ ”

The $8-million movie is to be produced under the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production.

Veteran writer/director Sergei Bodrov, known for Oscar-nominated pictures Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan and Kavkazsky Plennik (Prisoner of the Mountains), has been brought on board as the writer, while the director and cast have not yet been announced.

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Filming is to begin in late 2012 in Malta, Italy and Germany.

Amphibian Manwas adapted for the screen in Russia back in 1962 by directors Vladimir Chebotaryov and Gennady Kazansky and became one of the Soviet era’s box office champions, with 65.5 million admissions.