Bohemian Rhapsody screenwriter Anthony McCarten has signed on to write the script for Three Identical Strangers. “Wasn’t that a recent documentary?” I hear you wonder. You’re right. But McCarten will write the screenplay for the narrative adaptation of the doc, which is being partly produced by Film4.
McCarten has the unusual knack of writing scripts that eventually lead to Best Actor wins at the Oscars. His last three scripts – Bohemian Rhapsody, Darkest Hour, The Theory Of Everything – have all netted its lead actors a win at the ceremony. So expect Jonathan Pryce to win Best Actor at next year’s Oscars, as he is the star of The Pope, McCarten’s next film.
Three Identical Strangers – the documentary – told the true story of Robert Shafran, David Kellman and Eddy Galland, three complete strangers who discover that they are identical triplets separated at birth. The discovery catapults them to fame, but they soon uncover a haunting reason for their separation.
There’s a couple of fair questions here. First, does Three Identical Strangers need a narrative adaptation? Probably not. Second, although Bohemian Rhapsody was a commercial hit, critics were not kind to it, with McCarten’s milquetoast script getting plenty of vitriol thrown at it.
This may have been partly down to the heavy involvement of the surviving members of Queen. They sought to tell the story their way. But McCarten’s track record is by-the-numbers biopics. Is he the right writer for this gig? Will he turn a fascinating true story into another lazy, Oscar-bait biopic?
A director has yet to be found. Maybe whoever is brought on board can add some much needed intrigue to this project. But right now this feels like a film that doesn’t need to be made. The whole story has already been told in the documentary.
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