Newmarket snaps up 'Creation' rights

NEW YORK, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Newmarket Films said Thursday it has acquired the U.S. rights to director Jon Amiel's "Creation," a film about Charles Darwin and his family.

The movie focuses on the scientist and author's struggles to finish his book "On the Origin of Species," which went on to become the foundation for evolutionary biology.

The screenplay was written by John Collee, based on the biography "Annie's Box," written by Darwin's great-great grandson Randal Keynes. The film stars real-life couple Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly, who appeared together in "A Beautiful Mind."

Newmarket said it plans to release the movie in December.

"We at Newmarket pride ourselves in getting behind important films that help open the door for discussion and conversation, as is the case with 'Creation,'" Newmarket co-founder Chris Ball said in a statement. "While Darwin's name has come to symbolize one side of a debate between the scientific and the theological, 'Creation' personifies the debate, with both sides contending, sometimes violently, within the man. In that sense, we believe that the film will appeal both to people of faith and people of science."

"Creation" Producer Jeremy Thomas said Newmarket was "passionate about reaching a wide audience" wit the film.

"I think back to what they did with 'The Passion of the Christ,' a very different film but one that also challenged people's ideas, and am happy to be working with people who can achieve this," he said. "We hope the debate doesn't get in the way of what is a human story, with bigger issues at its core."