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EXCLUSIVE: 20th Century Studios has boarded an adaptation of Children of the Jungle with Giannina Scott on to produce and Roberto Bentivegna penning the script. Scott will produce through her Cara Films banner alongside Scott Free’s Ridley Scott and President of Film, Michael Pruss.
The book is based upon investigative journalist Mat Youkee’s book,Forty Days in the Jungle and follows the June 2023 rescue of four indigenous children — Lesly, Soleiny, Tien, and Cristin — after the light aircraft carrying them crashed and left the children for 40 days in the Colombian Amazon rainforest. Their challenges have been heralded globally as one of the great stories of survival of all time.
Through interviews with the family, members of the indigenous community and military search teams, as well as elders from Colombia’s Amazonian communities, Forty Days in the Jungle recounts this remarkable story in the words of its fascinating and complex young characters. It goes deeper, however, in investigating the brutal history, resilient culture, and current struggles of Colombia’s indigenous communities by shining a light on the historical contexts preceding the crash and the aftermath of the children’s rescue.
Scott brought the project to Scott Free and won a competitive auction for Youkee’s book proposal together with the Scott Free team. Around this time, the story became global headline news in May of 2024. Scott’s relationship with Bentivegna began when she brought him on board to adapt and write the acclaimed House of Gucci starring Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino ,Jack Huston, Salma Hayek, and Jeremy Irons, produced by Giannina and Scott Free with Ridley Scott directing for MGM.
Prior to this, Giannina has produced Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down The White House starring Liam Neeson and Diane Lane , written and directed by Peter Landesman. She also produced Concussion for Sony Pictures starring Will Smith, which followed the true story of neuropathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu who made the first discovery of CTE, a football-related brain trauma, and fought to expose the dangers of the sport.
She also co-produced Tristan & Isolde; directed by Kevin Reynolds and staring James Franco,
Sophia Myles, and Rufus Sewell; as well as Matchstick Men, staring Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, and Alison Lohman, directed by Ridley Scott , and written by Ted Griffen. She brought this project to Scott to direct.
