Paramount acquires rights to 'Dean Spanley

LONDON, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Paramount Pictures has acquired the Australian and New Zealand rights to "Dean Spanley," a star-studded, big-screen period drama, Variety.com said Monday.

Set in England at the start of the 20th Century, the film stars Peter O'Toole, Sam Neill, Jeremy Northam and Bryan Brown and is about a father and son and their encounters with a peculiar outsider, the trade paper said.

"No. 2" writer-director Toa Fraser helms the film, which was penned by "Rob Roy" scribe Alan Sharp.