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LONDON – U.K. indie production banner Richwater Films, the company behind vigilante thriller Vendetta, starring Danny Dyer, has secured the movie rights to Tracy Kirby‘s autobiography Model Prisoner.
Kirby, a topless page 3 model in the British tabloid The Sun, owned by Rupert Murdoch‘s News International, was arrested for unwittingly smuggling cash for a huge international drugs cartel and spent two years in Holloway Prison in the British capital.
Kirby has since worked as an actress in movies such as The Business and Vendetta, both starring Dyer.
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Richwater CEO Jonathan Sothcott said he is excited to bring Model Prisoner to the screen, noting “finally a British crime movie where all the good parts are for the girls. Tracy’s story is sensational and gripping and this will be a gift of a part for an actress.”
The aim is to make “the most realistic depiction of the harsh realities of life in a womens’ prison,” Sothcott said.
“By turns shocking, tragic and brutal this will be the ultimate female crime film and a compelling cautionary tale of the pitfalls of celebrity. It also helps that Tracy is such a warm and engaging person and will be a fantastic ambassador for the film.”
Kirby said she had never been able to go further than a first draft for a film about her life, “but with Richwater Films, and specifically Jonathan Sothcott, I feel that it is in safe hands and can be portrayed the right way.”
She added: “I have never wanted to glorify what I did as I have always said I was naive, gullible and a fool, but portrayed the right way from the glamor to the brutal life I lead in prison, this could not only be a powerful film but hopefully a strong deterrent for the younger generation.”
Production is penciled for the second half of 2014.
Richwater’s 2014 slate also includes crime biopic Reign of the General, ticking clock hitman movie Age of Kill and Vendetta 2: Annihilation, the sequel to Richwater’s 2013 home entertainment hit.
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