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Baz Luhrmann will is no longer attached to the much-anticipated English-language feature adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov's 1967 novel The Master and Margarita, Variety reported.
Bulgakov wrote the novel in the Soviet Union between 1928 to 1940. However, it wasn't published until decades after his death. The story was inspired by Faust, with the Devil visiting the Soviet Union. It also includes topics concerning Christianity, comedy, satire and the supernatural.
Plans for Luhrmann's English-language feature were reported in 2019 through Baz & Co., his joint-venture company with Len Blavatnik. The filmmaker was not committed to direct the film.
Elvis and Australia leap over The Master and Margarita
However, the plans fell through and instead the filmmaker directed the Academy Award-nominated Elvis biopic and the limited series Faraway Downs. Now, Luhrmann has completely stepped back from the project that may be due to the book rights.
The producers refused to comment, however a source disagrees regarding the issue with the rights.
When the novel was publish posthumously in the late '60s in France, this did not comply with US copyrights laws, according to the claim submitted by Bulgakov's supposed heirs. That caused the novel to be under public domain.
When the Soviet Union collapsed and the Russian Federation was formed, several international laws resulted in the restoration of the book's copyright. This then was passed to siblings Sergey and Daria Shilovsky.
The Shilovskys' claim to Mikhail Bulgakov's seminal work
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The Shilovskys are not direct descendants of Bulgakov. They claim that they inherited the book through their grandmother, the author's third wife. The siblings have been very protective over Bulgakov's work. They filed a lawsuit in 2014 in New York when the book's English translation was published during the time it was not under copyright law.
At the time, the court didn't question the siblings' claim of ownership of the rights. However, it still ruled in the publisher's favor. Another work, Yuri Kara's Russian version published in 1994 complicated the rights issue.
Through all these complications, there have been many filmmakers who have tried to make their own version of the novel over the years. Some of these filmmakers include Roman Polansky, Federico Fellini and Terry Gilliam. Producer Scott Steindorff allegedly acquired the rights in. 2008 to The Master and Margarita to make an English-language version, however nothing came out of it. Steindorff's representative haven't commented yet.
To date, there are currently nine English translations of the novel, and 11 film adaptations. The earliest one was in 1970 from a Finnish director. The latest one was released this year co-written and directed by American filmmaker Michael Lockshin. It premiered in January in Russia. Its world premiere was at Yale University in March.
Before the announcement of Luhrmann leaving the project, he spoke about how he connected with the book. Last year, he told Variety at the Red Sea Film Festival The Master and Margarita has followed him around since 1996,
“It's weaved in and out of my life. I can tell you stories, but I don't have time. I'm not saying that ‘M&M' — that's what we call it — is the one I'll end up making after all. But I can't tell you how many times people say, ‘You should do that story.' It would be disingenuous of me to say that it's not something that I constantly or I consistently brush up against,” Luhrmann said.
Baz & Co. and Blavatnik's representatives refused to comment. Shilovsky's representatives were unable to respond before the story went to press.
