Matt Charman's High-Tech Chess Drama The Machine Set for Film Adaptation | Playbill

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News Matt Charman's High-Tech Chess Drama The Machine Set for Film Adaptation Disney has acquired the screen rights to Matt Charman's The Machine, the high-tech dramatic re-telling of the 1997 chess match between chess phenomenon Garry Kasparov and the IBM computer Deep Blue, according to Deadline.com.

Charman will adapt his play, which premiered July 10-21 at the Manchester International Festival and recently played New York City's Park Avenue Armory Sept. 4-28. Alexander Young and Hal Vogel will produce the film. Donmar Warehouse artistic director Josie Rourke directed the stage production that starred Hadley Fraser ("Les Misérables," The Phantom of the Opera, The Pirate Queen) as phenom Kasparov.

Read Playbill.com's coverage of the play here.

Here's how the play was billed: "In 1997, Garry Kasparov, the world’s greatest chess player, arrived in New York City for the biggest match of his life. His opponent wasn't a fellow Grandmaster but a faceless super-computer, Deep Blue, built by tech-giant IBM. The man versus machine match was IBM’s bid to raise its profile and its stock price. An international celebrity and the undisputed master of his art, Kasparov came to America for freedom and glory. What he didn't expect to confront was the lifelong dedication of another man, Deep Blue's wunderkind inventor Doctor Hsu. Both geniuses, they staked their reputations on the tournament. What followed was one of the most compelling stories of our time. The production will use the unique scale and epic beauty of the Armory to explore this clash of breathtaking human genius with matchless computer power."

 
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