DreamWorks picks up scent of ‘Perfume’

From IMDb Pro:

In a move that could lead to DreamWorks jumping into the specialty film market, the studio has picked up North American rights to Perfume, the period serial-killer drama based on Patrick Sueskind’s international best-seller Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, which Tom Tykwer is to direct. The acquisition was jointly announced Wednesday by Martin Moskowicz, president of production at Constantin Film, which is producing the project, and Rick Sands, the new president and chief operating officer of DreamWorks. Said Sands in a statement: “The acquisition of ‘Perfume’ illustrates a new direction for DreamWorks: We will be actively pursuing interesting projects throughout the world and thus bringing the works of talented international directors, actors and writers to American audiences.” – By Scott Roxborough and Gregg Kilday

I’ve read Patrick Süskind’s Perfume. It is worth checking out if you haven’t heard of it. Kurt Cobain, late frontman of Nirvana, was, according to himself in an interview with MuchMusic, obsessed with this book. He wrote a song called Scentless Apprentice about the book’s main character, the alienated Grenouille, a man born completely without a bodily scent. The song can be heard on their last studio album, In Utero.

Interesting that Tom Twyker, director of one of my favourite flicks, Run Lola Run, has signed on to direct. This is a real departure for Dreamworks who typically stick with the tried and true Hollywood formula films. Perhaps we’ll get to see some real money thrown at truly interesting stories told from other perspectives than those from the ‘lower 48’. Sounds promising.