Barbra Streisand to Helm CATHERINE THE GREAT Biopic

Barbra Streisand has come aboard to direct "CATHERINE THE GREAT," written by Kristina Lauren Anderson, it is announced by Gil Netter who will produce. With Streisand helming and Netter producing, casting is now underway.

The film is about a young, sensual Catherine trapped into an abusive marriage with the heir to the Russian throne. But, when her inept husband proves incapable of ruling, she utilizes her intelligence, fortitude, and passion to rise to power, becoming Catherine the Great. Anderson's script was honored with the top spot on 2014's 'Black List,' an insider's list of Hollywood's best yet unproduced screenplays.

Barbra Streisand is an icon, with award-winning success as filmmaker, actor, singer and composer. The three films directed by Streisand, "Yentl," "The Prince of Tides," and "The Mirror has Two Faces," received a total of fourteen Oscar nominations. Streisand won Oscars for Best Actress in "Funny Girl" and Best Original Song for "Evergreen." In 1984, she became the first woman to win a Golden Globe for Best Director, for the motion picture "Yentl." With that film she also became the first woman to direct, write, produce and star in a major studio film. One of show business' most highly-lauded stars, she is the only person ever to receive all of the following: Oscar, Tony, Emmy, Grammy, Golden Globe, Cable Ace, National Medal of Arts, and Peabody award, as well as the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement honor and the Film Society of Lincoln Center Chaplin Award. Most recently President Barack Obama awarded Streisand with our nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Gil Netter produced "Life Of Pi," nominated for 11 Academy Awards, Best Picture among them, winning four Oscars including Best Director for Ang Lee; "The Blind Side," also nominated for a Best Picture Oscar and winning Best Actress for Sandra Bullock; and "Water for Elephants" starring Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, and Christoph Waltz. Netter's upcoming slate includes: "The Graveyard Book," directed by Ron Howard, "Just Mercy" with Broad Green Pictures, "The Glass Castle" for Lionsgate Entertainment, and "The Shack," based on the best-selling book, starring Academy Award®-winner Octavia Spencer and Grammy Award® Winner Tim McGraw.

Kristina Lauren Anderson was recently hired to co-write "The Black Count" with Cary Fukunaga for Sony. Her other projects include a Warner Bros and Di Novi adaptation of "Invisibility," Studio Canal's "Life and Death in Eden" with Grand Electric producing, and she recently sold a pitch to Paramount titled "The Briefcase."

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