Guide Note

Amelia (previously named The Story of Amelia Earhart) is a biopic starring Hilary Swank as the legendary pilot Amelia Earhart. The film was set to be directed by Phillip Noyce, director of 2006's Catch A Fire, but he announced that he had left the project in December 2007. Mira Nair will instead direct

Fast Facts

1. Release Date: 2009
2. Starring Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Virginia Madsen
3. Directed by Mira Nair
4. Written by Ron Bass
5. Both Swank and Bass will be executive producers
6. Based on three existing biographies of Amelia Earhart East to the Dawn, The Sound of Wings and Amelia Earhart: The Mystery Solved

The story will focus on the early stages of Amelia Earhart's career. After socialite Amy Guest is convinced not to pilot a transatlantic flight, she finds Amelia Earhart (Hillary Swank) to lead the event. The film will also focus on Earhart's historically turbulent relationship with promoter George Putnam (Richard Gere). Putnam's first wife, Dorothy Binney (Virginia Madsen), will also play a part in the movie.

The film will be based on three existing biographies about Amelia Earhart:

1. The Sound of Wings by Mary S. Lovell, first published in 1991
2. East to the Dawn by [[Susan Butler], first published in 1997
3. Amelia Earhart: The Mystery Solved by Elgen M. Long and Marie K. Long, first published in 1999

"She's very much an inspiration. I am looking forward to playing her. I am going to take flying lessons, which is so exciting." -Star Hillary Swank "I had worked on Amelia... from July to end of December 2007... When it didn't appear that the film was going ahead, I had to make a painful decision to move on." Previous director, Phillip Noyce