Turkey Tale: Highlanders Christmas odeal to be made into Hollywood film
The tale of a Scottish couple forced to spend a month apart at Christmas by heavy snow is set to be turned into a Hollywood film.
John and Kay Ure from Sutherland hit the headlines over the festive period after Kay, 56, went to buy the Christmas turkey and failed to return for four weeks.
Now the pair’s story is to be seen around the world after they signed a £40,000 deal with Beverly Hills company Furst Films.
Company boss Bryan Furst confirmed the deal and is looking forward to retelling the Ures' story.
He said: "We are thrilled to be working with the Ures to bring their wonderful story to the screen.
"Their Christmas saga captured the imagination of so many who followed it, and we feel it has the potential to enthral many more as a feature film."
The couple, who run Britain's most remote cafe in the lighthouse keeper's cottage at Cape Wrath in Sutherland, became a symbol of the ‘Big Freeze’ that hit the UK weeks before Christmas.
On December 19, John, 58, drove his wife the 11 miles from the lighthouse to a jetty where their boat was moored and from there they crossed the sea loch, the Kyle of Durness.
BACKGROUND
But heavy snow meant Kay could not get back to the lighthouse and she spent Christmas in a friend's caravan in Durness until it cleared.
Her husband had the company of their dogs and two walkers who popped into the cafe.
The couple were finally reunited and celebrated their Christmas dinner on January 19. An electricity failure in their remote house meant they had to cook their turkey in an oven powered by bottled gas.
John will work with a writer for a year while the company prepares a script.
He said: "I never thought my life would be turned into a movie. Maybe Robert Carlyle could play me.
Mr Furst wrote to me and then called me and we discussed things. Then the contract arrived. It is the sort of thing you can never believe would ever happen to you - but it has. He obviously thinks I have an interesting story to tell."
But John said he would not let the film deal go to his head.
He said: "I will not be rolling out the red carpet at the cafe. And I won't give up running it. I love it here."
Furst Films' The Matador was the comedy that gave Pierce Brosnan a Golden Globe nomination.
Alec Baldwin won an Oscar for best supporting actor in The Cooler in another Furst production.
The Girl in the Park starred Sigourney Weaver and the company's recently released Daybreakers features Willem Dafoe.
The film deal is worth a few years' takings at the couple's cafe, which has had only eight customers since the end of October.
