Madeleine McCann Case Could Be Film After Talks

A film could be made about Madeleine McCann's disappearance after talks with a major entertainment company.

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Her parents are considering giving permission for IMG to make a movie or documentary.

Their spokesman confirmed to Sky News Online that a meeting with the firm took place last month.

But he said Gerry and Kate McCann did not attend and stressed nothing has yet been agreed.

Clarence Mitchell said a film would only be considered if the McCanns believed it would help raise awareness of the case or help fund the private search for Madeleine.

IMG, the firm behind the award-winning drama-documentary Touching The Void, made the initial approach, it is thought.

The resulting meeting in mid-December discussed the possibility of making the story of four-year-old Madeleine into either a film or a TV drama.

Mr and Mrs McCann were aware of the meeting but did not attend in person.

Instead, Mr Mitchell and another representative of the McCanns met IMG at the firm's London offices.

The spokesman said: "We have only had one discussion with IMG. It may or may not happen.

"If we feel any particular proposal in the media has validity in helping us find Madeleine, we are happy to discuss it."

Mr Mitchell said it was just one of many approaches that have been made by media companies over the missing girl, who vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Portugal in May.

In a statement, Darlow Smithson Productions, a production company owned by IMG, said: "Darlow Smithson had a preliminary meeting with representatives of the McCanns about the possibility of an observational documentary following the ongoing search for Madeleine.

"Discussions are still at a very early stage and the issue of money has never been raised."

 

This is very shaky ground, and will need to be done with care and sensitivity which I'm not sure the film industry is capable of, to be honest.

 

The film industry is as gentle as a herd of elephant in a rolling grass of the savanna...

Is this that case about that little girl who went missing in spain or am I thinkin gof a different disappearnce?

 

Portugal. But probably the same. The media have accused just about everyone of it, by now.

 

it would be pretty hard to make a viable movie out of this without any ending...

 

Indeed, Maia. I was just wondering how they'd end the movie if it was an ongoing case...

Hmm...

 

That's what I was thinking. And they can't make one up, because it has the potential to bias a jury, if it ever comes to trial. It seems irresponsible, to be honest.

 

Ok thanks for clearing that up. I was thinking of the same case just had the wrong country.

 

Easy mistake to make, lordofhats.

 

I think the whole thing is kinda stupid--why does this single case deserve so much attention? How is this any more important than the countless others that have been abducted?

If anything, it should be a documentary about all the cases of kidnapping in that area, the country, or the crime in general. See how the families are affected, how the media has dealt with the, and the government as well. As that is a very publicized case, it can be fit into the film.

 

People don't get mad at general trends. They become incensed by individual stories. This one has enough twists and bureaucratic dust-ups to it to really fire people up.

Documentaries put people to sleep.

 

Then go with individual families and make it personal... problem solved.

 

I still think it is irresponsible to jeoprodise an ongoing criminal case like this. I've seen it happen (to a lesser degree) when tabloid papers report on criminal cases, and end up with the case being thrown out because the jury could no longer guarantee being unbiased. You'd think people would learn...

 

Focusing on one family fully involves the viewer.

 

Banzai, I think the family cares less about punishing the guilty party than they care about finding where their daughter is, alive or otherwise.

Besides, a movie would not jeopardize the trial any more than the information and rumors already in the press.

 

I agree with cogito. it will be much more focused if we pick on case that alot of people know about and use it to represent all the cases of its kind.

I do agree though and often wonder why certain cases end up getting so much publicity while others of the same nature are never heard of outside of those effected.

Another problem is accuracy. If they make a movie about this case and its not accurate to exactly what happened then anyone who sees it will be thinking of the movie through the whole case.

At this point though I don't think it matters. We're 5 months short of the one year missing marker. At this point the girl is probably dead and they'll probably never find her. Even if they do its even more unlikely they'll ever find the one responsible.

 

Whatever... if that's what everyone wants, fine. Won't see a damned penny from me, though.