James Mangold is a director who likes to hop among genres: he’s tackled dramas of all stripes, Westerns, biopics and the superheroic likes of The Wolverine. He’s blending a couple of those for a potential future project, lining up an adaptation of Chris Greenhalgh’s book Seducing Ingrid Bergman.
Arash Amel has written the script for the embryonic film, which chronicles the passionate, secretive romance between the iconic actress and noted war photographer Robert Capa in post-World War II Paris, just before the Cold War kicked in.
The script has been floating around since at least 2013, and follows the period where Bergman’s image began to shift from her wholesome earlier days to being denounced by the US Senate for loose morals (truly something of an ironic juxtaposition, there.) According to Deadline, Mangold has wanted to call the eventual film Blood And Champagne, but he may not get his wish, as the title is proving tough to clear.
It may be a while before that project can even think about moving however, as Mangold is focusing on developing the new – and, for Hugh Jackman at least – potentially final Wolverine film, which became his priority after The Deep Blue Good-By** was put on hold thanks to Christian Bale’s injured knee.