Charles Leavitt is an American screenwriter best known for writing the 2006 film Blood Diamond.
Biography
After writing the 1996 film The Sunchaser and the 1998 film The Mighty, Leavitt was hired by Warner Bros. in February 2004 to rewrite an early draft of the film Blood Diamond, then titled Okavango. The story had been stuck in "development hell" at the studio for years before producers Paula Weinstein and Gillian Gorfil finally decided on the story of an African farmer caught up in the conflict between an American smuggler and the local diamond mining organization. Leavitt researched the diamond industry to great lengths before he began writing the screenplay, explaining that he has "always been a stickler for immersing in research". He wrote the film with the assumption that it would offend the diamond industry, particularly De Beers, and so made sure to portray the industry truthfully, aware that he could potentially be sued by De Beers and other powerful mining corporations. Paula Weinstein was impressed by Leavitt's Blood Diamond draft, but hired writers Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz to rewrite the script again; by the time he had completed the script, Zwick had become so interested in the story that he agreed to direct the film as well.
Leavitt was signed by Warner Bros. in October 2006 to adapt Vanity Fair editor Doug Stumpf's novel Confessions of a Wall Street Shoeshine Boy, which the studio had acquired the rights to in mid-2005. He has also since rewritten Scott Williams' original draft of The Express, a biographical film about American football player Ernie Davis. He has written the screenplay In the Heart of the Sea for Intermedia and Spring Creek, and has written Animal Kingdom on spec. His screen adaptation of Dave King's novel The Ha-Ha is currently in development, and he is currently writing the screenplay for upcoming thriller film Uprising.
References
^ a b c Dunkley, Cathy (24 February 2004). "WB leaving 'Okavango' to Leavitt". Variety. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
^ a b Faye, Denis (2006). "Diamond Scribe". Writers Guild of America, west. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
^ Brodesser, Claude (28 June 2005). "WB polishes 'Diamond'". Variety. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
^ a b McClintock, Pamela (24 October 2006). "Leavitt buffs up 'Shoeshine'". Variety. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
^ Fleming, Michael (6 December 2006). "Quaid takes an 'Express'". Variety. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
^ Siegel, Tatiana (11 March 2008). "Petersen leads Columbia's 'Uprising'". Variety. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
External links
Charles Leavitt at the Internet Movie Database
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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Leavitt"
Categories: Year of birth missing (living people) | Living people | American screenwriters | People from Pittsburgh
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