Maggie Smith, Kevin Kline to Star in ‘Old Lady’

LONDON — Maggie Smith, Kevin Kline, Jane Birkin and Dominique Pinon are set to topline in “My Old Lady,” a Paris-based dramatic comedy marking the feature film directorial debut of playwright and screenwriter Israel Horovitz, who adapted his stage-play for the screen.
Principal photography begins in Paris on Sept. 9.
Protagonist Pictures will introduce the project to international buyers at Cannes; Cinetic Media is handling the North American sale.
Kline play Mathias, a down-and-out New Yorker, who travels to Paris to liquidate a huge, valuable apartment he has inherited from his estranged father. In Paris, Mathias discovers a refined old lady Mathilde, played by Smith, living in the apartment with her daughter Chloé (Birkin). Mathias discovers that Mathilde and his father were lovers for more than 50 years.
Rachael Horovitz (“Moneyball,” “About Schmidt”) is producing with Raphael Benoliel (“Midnight in Paris,” “Les Miserables”), Nitsa Benchetrit (“The Black Waters of Echo’s Pond”) and David Barrot (“Eyes Wide Open,” “Battu”). French stage-producer Marie-Cecile Renauld co-produces.
Horovitz’s screenwriting credits include “The Strawberry Statement,” which took the Prix de Jury at Cannes in 1970, Al Pacino comedy “Author! Author!” and Istvan Szabo’s epic “Sunshine,” the winner of the European Film Award for best screenplay.
Horovitz’s other plays include “The Indian Wants the Bronx,” and “Park Your Car in Harvard Yard.”