Mulberry Films secured veteran director Dennis Lee to spearhead their first film, PURPLE AMERICA, based on the book by best-selling author Rick Moody. Daniel Ragussis also signed on to co-write the adaptation with Lee. While this is the first venture for Mulberry Films, it will be Moody’s second novel to hit the silver screen, following the acclaimed Ang Lee directed feature, THE ICE STORM.
“Daniel and I are thrilled to be working with Mulberry Films on the adaptation of Rick Moody’s beautiful and moving novel,” said Lee. “Like The Ice Storm, Purple America’s poignant themes, stunning imagery, emotional honesty, and unforgettable characters make it perfectly suited for the big screen. Already a great novel, Purple America is going to be an unforgettable film.”
Gopi Sait, CEO of Mulberry Films, said of Lee, “We feel that Dennis is an immensely gifted storyteller that has the right pulse to tell this particular story – he knows drama, humor, tragedy and emotional journeys. Together with Daniel Ragussis, who is also a brilliant writer and a director in his own right, we could not ask for a better combination of talent working together to bring Purple America to life on the big screen. We really believe this is going to be a special, timeless story made even more brilliant with both of them at the helm.”
Purple America, published in 1998, is a dysfunctional family drama about how the ordinary, commonplace tragedies of life can sometimes make heroes out of very ordinary people. Hex, an awkward 40-something returns to Long Island to visit his invalid mother only to discover her husband has left her. In the next 24 hours a series of increasingly bizarre events force him to try and face up to his family responsibilities and re-examine his own evermore muddled life.
“We chose Purple America because of its timeless quality, set against a mythic nuclear background with the deterioration of the American suburbia unfolding. The way in which Rick Moody tells this story is so brilliant and memorable, it’s the kind of writing that reminds us of the classic vintage literature that we all grew up on, like John Cheever and John Steinbeck,” said Sait.