American producer Rob Allyn, who has worked on a number of Indonesian film productions, has travelled to Sarawak this week in order to conduct research on James Brooke – The 19th century British adventurer and White Raja of the Sarawak Region – for a possible epic Hollywood film.

Margate House Films, Allyn’s studio, is working in close association with the Brooke Heritage Trust in order for the background of the possible film to be scrutinized for cinematic purposes.

The film, reportedly, has a budget of US$15 Million (RM48 Million), and a full scale replica of Brooke’s 142-ton Schooner, The Royalist, is under construction (the replica will remain a Kuching tourist attraction after the movie has been made).

The James Brooke Biopic is scheduled to begin shooting next year, and will deal primarily with the great White Raja’s battles against pirates, his dealings with the Sultan of Brunei, and his administration in Sarawak. This impressive project owes much to the Malaysian Tourism industries efforts to attract film makers to the region whilst also promoting picturesque Malaysian Borneo to the world.

Story From: The New Straits Times