Films So Good

Steve Coogan is set to star in an adaptation of the bestselling memoir “The Penguin Lessons” by Tom Michell  for production company 42. Oscar-nominee Peter Cattaneo will direct and the script is by Jeff Pope, the Coogan’s longtime collaborator (“Philomena”, “Stan & Ollie”, “The Lost King”).

More recent works from Steve Coogan include Stephen Frears’ “The Lost King” with Sally Hawkins, about the modern-day search for the body of Richard III, and “The Reckoning“, an upcoming BBC drama about Jimmy Savile, a prolific British TV presenter whose public persona covered up a litany of depraved sex crimes.

Director Cattaneo made his feature debut in 1997 with the hit comedy “The Full Monty“, which grossed over $250 million on a $3.5 million budget, and earned Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. His subsequent films include “The Rocker” (2008) with Rainn Wilson and Christina Applegate and “Military Wives” (2019) starring Kristin Scott Thomas.

Plot

Released in 2016, “The Penguin Lessons” is Tom Michell’s memoir of his time teaching English at an Argentinian boys’ school in 1976. Expecting an easy ride, he discovered instead a complicated and divided nation – and a class of practically unteachable young boys. When he finds a small penguin washed up on an oil-slicked beach, his life is turned upside down – and the penguin becomes not only a valued friend, but also a teacher of life’s most important lessons, for Tom, the boys and many others.

“With its visceral setting of the political strife of late 70s Argentina and a man’s unexpected bond with a penguin at its heart, I’m so excited to bring this original, charming, life-affirming and meaningful true story to the screen,” says Cattaneo.

The photo is from a scene of the movie “The Lost King” (2022)

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