Uli Edel to Direct Nazi Atom Bomb Drama ‘Heisenberg’
By Ed Meza
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – German director Uli Edel (“The Baader Meinhof Complex”) is set to direct “Heisenberg,” an adaptation of Richard von Schirach’s historical book “The Night of the Physicists: Operation Epsilon: Heisenberg, Hahn, Weizsäcker and the German Bomb,” about the team of German physicists who tried to develop the atom bomb for Germany during World War II.
Munich-based companies KJ Entertainment and Fireworks Entertainment are teaming up with Film Manufacturers Inc. (FMI) in New York to co-produce “Heisenberg” from a script by Marco Wiersch (“Der Fall Barschel”).
Published in Germany in 2012, von Schirach’s book traces the efforts of Germany’s top physicists, including Werner Karl Heisenberg, Otto Hahn and Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker, to develop an atomic bomb for the Nazi government during the war. Arrested by the Allies in the spring of 1945, the scientists first hear of the U.S. attack on Hiroshima while detained at Farm Hall, an MI6 safe house, near Cambridge.
“The Night of the Physicists” is described as “the story of Nazi Germany’s hunt for a nuclear bomb” and “a tale of the genius and guilt of lauded, respected scientists.”
“Heisenberg” is set to start shooting in early 2021.
Edel, known for his collaborations with late producer Bernd Eichinger, such as 1981’s “Christiane F.” and 1989’s “Last Exit to Brooklyn,” will next shoot ZDF’s “The Palace,” a six-part period drama about Berlin’s famed Friedrichstadt-Palast show venue, produced by Constantin Film.
FMI, founded by Katharina Otto-Bernstein, partnered with Kathrin Lohmann’s KJ Entertainment on Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey’s 2016 documentary “Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures,” produced with HBO and World of Wonder. FMI and KJ Entertainment also recently collaborated with Fireworks Entertainment on Wolfgang Panzer’s ARD/WDR production “Meeresleuchten,” starring Ulrich Tukur, Sibel Kekilli (“Game of Thrones”), Kostja Ullmann and Ursina Lardi, as well as on the web series “Für Umme – Die Serie.”
Marian Redmann’s Fireworks Entertainment’s credits likewise include Sat.1’s “Jack the Ripper”; ProSieben’s World War II movie “The Bridge”; and Til Schweiger’s “1½ Knights – In Search of the Ravishing Princess Herzelinde.”
