With 45 Years at the centre of awards attention including an Oscar nomination for lead Charlotte Rampling, director Andrew Haigh has been on the lookout for a follow-up. He's just signed to direct a film about the fascinating life of fashion designer Alexander McQueen.
Playwright Chris Urch is the man charged with writing the script, which will draw from multiple sources including Andrew Wilson's McQueen biography Blood Beneath The Skin.
McQueen, the working class son of a taxi driver, won an apprenticeship on Saville Row and rose through the ranks quickly to become head designer at Givenchy. With a client list that included Prince Charles and David Bowie, he became known for signature styles and gained enough clout to launch his own eponymous label in 2004. But he was also a turbulent and troubled genius, who became increasingly dependent on drugs and suffered a string of failed relationships. The death of his mother in 2010 hit him particularly hard, and he committed suicide nine days after she passed from cancer.
Haigh will work on developing this one with Urch for Pathe, and it could be something great depending on who they find to play McQueen.