Python's story to be told

Hollywood film-makers are planning a movie charting the life of Monty Python star Graham Chapman.

The biography will tackle Chapman's early years at Cambridge, his dilemma about quitting medicine to follow comedy, and his homosexuality.

LA-based independent production outfit Hippofilms has brought options to the story and has been given access to previously unseen footage of the late star.

Production is slated to start in November, trade website Screendaily reports.

David Benner, who is writing and co-directing the movie, said: "The Graham Chapman Archives has granted access to never-before-seen material, including portions of Chapman's unpublished memoirs and works.

"But the access to Chapman's private diary is still under negotiation. The diary is pretty hot."

Chapman died in 1989, at the age of 48, of spinal and throat cancer.

To buy Graham Chapman: A Liar's Autobiography

Published: 10 May 2002