Sony on a 'Lion' safari

Sept. 5, 2008

Millions have seen the YouTube video of "Christian the Lion" reuniting in Africa with the two men who bought him from a high-end London department store in 1969.

Now, Sony Pictures is looking to bring the story of Christian and the two men, John Rendall and Anthony "Ace" Bourke, to the big screen.

The studio is in the process of securing the life rights of Rendall and Bourke and their 1972 book "A Lion Called Christian."

Neal Moritz and his Original Film shingle would produce the project. The studio's Matt Tolmach would be one of the execs overseeing the project. Tolmach has a special interest in the story: His grandfather, Sam Jaffe, was a producer on the 1966 film "Born Free," about Joy and George Adamson and a pride of lions on their Kenyan reserve.

One of the most viewed YouTube videos of the reunion features Whitney Houston belting out "I Will Always Love You" in the background to footage from a 1971 documentary about the two men seeing Christian a year after they sent him to Africa to be reintroduced into the wild.



Unsure whether Christian would recognize them after such a long time, the lion approaches the two men slowly at first, then rushes toward them and affectionately "hugs" them and rubs against them. (Tears flow shortly after by all who view the video.)

Rendall and Bourke are being repped in the deal by the Loeb & Loeb law firm.