Relativity sets lasse hallstrom, ‘dallas buyers club’ scribe craig borten for john d. Rockefeller pic

John D. Rockefeller Movie -- Lasse Hallstrom To Direct, Craig Borten To Write You will be redirected back to your article in seconds Skip to main content February 11, 2014 12:56pm SERVICES

TO SHARE THIS PAGE. Relativity has optioned the Ron Chernow book _Titan: The Life Of John D. Rockefeller_ and will develop a feature on America’s first billionaire for Lasse Hallstrom to

direct. Script will be written by Craig Borten, who is Oscar-nominated for _Dallas Buyers Club_. The patriarch of one of the country’s richest families, Rockefeller was ruthless in building

Standard Oil, and spent 30 years dodging investigations into his business tactics until Teddy Roosevelt took him on. Rockefeller also turned into a philanthropist who gave away most of his

fortune. Hallstrom sparked to telling the story of “the first Rockefeller, John D., and his rise to fame and fortune.” It is a sprawling undertaking, but Borten is used to that. He said he

met _Dallas Buyers Club_ protagonist Ron Woodruff in 1992 and had his first script draft done two years later, and it took nearly two decades for the film to get made. On the surface, the

two subjects seem entirely different but Borten sees similarities. “Each saw capitalism as a way to divide and conquer and accumulate but ultimately became most memorable for giving back,”

he told me. “Lasse’s early films like _My Life As A Dog_ and _Gilbert Grape_ changed my view of storytelling with his humanistic approach to characters. That was a major reason for me doing

this.” The film will be produced by Matt Alvarez and Robert Kravis, and Relativity president Tucker Tooley and production president Robbie Brenner are overseeing. Hallstrom and Borten are

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