South African film producer, Anant Singh, and Videovision Entertainment have scooped the film rights to the new Chris Barnard biography, Heartbreaker: Christiaan Barnard and the First Heart Transplant from the author, James-Brent Styan.
The publication of the book coincided with the 50th anniversary of the first heart transplant performed by the pioneering heart surgeon.
In a weekend statement, Singh said that he was always been fascinated by the Chris Barnard story. “I was 11 at the time and vividly remember the media frenzy that weekend,” he said in a statement.
“Also, it was a time when apartheid was at its peak and this provides an exceptional backdrop. Chris Barnard was a trailblazer having studied in Minnesota, where the Americans were progressing rapidly towards doing the first heart transplant,” he said.
Singh said that Barnard’s life was filled with numerous dramatic twists and turns and makes for "a perfect filmic journey, a fascinating South African character, a global celebrity from humble beginnings."
He said that Brent-Styan had crafted an excellent book to share with readers and this is a great basis for a film to be developed.
Styan said that he remembered watching as the new Christiaan Barnard hospital was being built, “thinking how little I actually knew about Barnard.”
“What followed was a year-and-a-half of research where I was sucked in by the incredible story of a guy who became probably the most famous doctor the world has ever seen,” he said.
Styan said he was honoured by the “interest and excitement that Anant has had in filming my story and this agreement is a dream come true in every sense of the word.”
“Still, the reality is it’s the story of Chris Barnard that I’ve just had the luck of rediscovering, a story that is sure to astound and intrigue audiences from around the world. At the end of the day it’s a heck of an adventure, one I look forward to seeing on screen,” he said.
The film version of “Heartbreaker: Christiaan Barnard and the First Heart Transplant” will be produced by Anant Singh and executive produced by Brian Cox and Christian Halsey-Solomon.
