Mulan’s Niki Caro to direct romantic drama Beautiful Ruins for Amblin

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Before her live-action version of MULAN finally comes charging into theaters, director Niki Caro has landed a deal with Amblin Partners to helm Beautiful Ruins, based on the New York Times bestseller written by Jess Walter.

News of the project was broken by Variety, who says that the story takes place in an Italian seaside village in 1962, where a charming young man runs a hotel with no guests, until one day an American starlet, fresh from the set of “Cleopatra,” appears and captures his heart. Five decades later in Hollywood, a jaded assistant to a once-powerhouse producer gets caught up in the magic of the Italian’s story and takes it upon herself to find a happy ending.

In addition to naming Caro as the film's director, Amblin announced that it would re-team with Neal Street Productions for the upcoming romance feature. Previously, the production studio has partnered with Amblin for director Sam Mendes' 1917, a war drama that went on to earn $375 million at the worldwide box office. Neal Street’s Pippa Harris, Sam Mendes, and Julie Pastor will produce, with Nicolas Brown executive producing. Meanwhile, Mark Hammer and Chiara Atik will write the script, which is based on an earlier version penned by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster.

In recent Caro-related news, the director's much anticipated live-action version of MULAN has been postponed until August 21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here's hoping that theaters can reopen sooner rather than later so that we can all enjoy Mulan's epic journey and other films up on the big screen once more.