Dominic Cooke to Direct ‘John Daniel,’ Real-Life Story of Woman’s Friendship With Baby Gorilla in Post-WWI England, as Cornerstone Boards Sales (EXCLUSIVE)

Oct 30, 2026 8:00am PT Dominic Cooke to Direct ‘John Daniel,’ Real-Life Story of Woman’s Friendship With Baby Gorilla in Post-WWI England, as Cornerstone Boards Sales (EXCLUSIVE)

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Alex Ritman

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Acclaimed British theater director Dominic Cooke, behind the recent stage spin-off “Game of Thrones: The Mad King,” is to helm his first film since 2020’s Benedict Cumberbatch-starring spy thriller “The Courier.”

“John Daniel,” which has been acquired for worldwide sales by Cornerstone ahead of the American Film Market, is based on the extraordinary true story of an unlikely friendship between a fiercely independent Englishwoman and a baby gorilla in the aftermath of WWI. With a screenplay written by Alexi Kaye Campbell (“Woman in Gold”), the film is inspired by original home movie footage and photographs recorded by locals in Uley, Gloucestershire between 1918-22.

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