FremantleMedia and Roland Joffe rebooting Hunchback of Notre Dame

FremantleMedia International and filmmaker Roland Joffé (The Mission) have joined forces to develop Ugly, a new version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

FMI said the new version will be a “vividly emotional and imaginative retelling of the world famous French gothic Victor Hugo novel”.

There are no confirmed broadcasters and FMI said it will start talking to potential partners at MIPTV next month.

Joffé (pictured), who started his career in the theatre before moving in to TV and then film, said: “In our story, Ugly is beautiful and much of what passes for beauty is ugly. Such is life, and life and love, cruelty and compassion, morals and money, are the subjects of our story.”

Sarah Doole, director of global drama, FremantleMedia said: “Ugly is truly captivating and exactly the type of project that we have been seeking in our efforts to grow our creation of high end scripted dramas. We are looking forward to discussing the project with the broadcasters at MIPTV.”