Feature Film Adaptation Acclaimed Novel Double Play

Double Play, Curacaoan author Frank Martinus Arion’s internationally acclaimed Dutch-language novel, is being adapted into a feature film to be helmed by Ernest Dickerson (Juice, The Wire). He’ll work from a script by Evan Jones and Alaric Alexander Smeets, with Lisa Cortes (Precious) and music and film festival organizer Gregory Elias producing. Principal photography is set to begin in November on location in Curaçao.

Emmy and Peabody award winning Dickerson began his career as a world-class cinematographer (Do The Right Thing, Malcolm X), later moving into directing on a wide range of memorable and critically acclaimed projects such as Juice, The Wire, and the hit TV series “The Walking Dead.”

Cortés, a film veteran who produced several critically acclaimed films with director Lee Daniels, including the Academy Award winning Precious. A rich and unexpected ensemble cast is being assembled for pivotal roles. “We’re casting a range of celebrated international talent,” explains Lisa Cortés, acclaimed in both her film and music industry careers for making innovative talent discoveries. “Double Play will celebrate the beautiful and distinct landscape of Curaçao and the diversity of its people.”

Gregory Elias, producer of the Curaçao North Sea Jazz and the Curaçao International Film Festival Rotterdam has a long history with the film. “I have fourteen years of commitment to this project,” says Elias. Elias believes “the themes in Double Play will strike a chord with a global audience. Greed, love, politics, loyalty, deceit, and holding onto your own principals - this can be projected onto so many societies.”

One of Latin music’s most accomplished producers, Grammy award winning, Sergio George, is enlisted to produce, write, and arrange some parts of the music score. Other important composers will also be involved.

Frank Martinus Arion’s first novel, Double Play, debuted in 1973 and is hailed as one of the most widely acclaimed works from the Caribbean. It is the winner of the Van der Hoogt prize and in 2006 more than 700,000 copies of the novel were distributed in Holland as part of the first successful Netherlands Reads campaign.