BERLIN — Philippe Rousselet’s Vendome Pictures is producing and financing “ElBulli,” a fictionalized dramatic feature film turning on world-famous Spanish chef Ferran Adria and his ElBulli, rated by many as the best restaurant in the world until it suddenly closed in 2011.
The screenplay by David Wilson, who most recently adapted “The Man From U.N.C.L.E” for Warner Bros., is inspired by Lisa Abend’s book “The Sorcerer’s Apprentices: A Season in the Kitchen at Ferran Adria’s ElBulli.”
Blending fact with fiction, it will deliver an inside-the-kitchen look at ElBulli, located on Spain’s Costa Brava an hour’s drive north of Barcelona.
Abend spent the 2009 six-month season at ElBulli, recording the intense interpersonal drama behind ElBulli’s notoriously rigorous kitchen training program for apprentices — 32 young chefs, chosen from 3,000 candidates.
Rousselet, Vendome’s CEO, produces with Jeff Kleeman and John Lesher. Vendome’s president of production, Guy Stodel, and vice president of production and development, Sarah Schweitzman, will oversee the project on behalf of Vendome.
“We are excited to be a part of this film and to work with an innovator like Ferran (Adria), who has revolutionized cuisine by creating his own genre of food,” Rousselet stated.
Vendome is currently seeking to attach a director and commence production in 2013.
Wilson is represented by Field Entertainment and The Gersh Agency.
