by Claude Brodesser

Elegy for Iris, a drama headlined by Judi Dench, is headed for Paramount after being offloaded by Sony's Columbia Pictures over budget issues.

Iris is an adaptation of John Bayley's memoir about his marriage to novelist and philosopher Iris Murdoch, and was long a pet project of Sony Pictures chairman John Calley. But studio brass there wanted to make the biopic at $5 million — not the $8 million to $9 million price tag being touted by director Richard Eyre, and placed it into turnaround.

Eyre then brought it to producer Scott Rudin (Shaft), who may make the picture before anticipated strikes from the actors and writers guild this spring. The project will mark the first time Eyre has directed a feature for an American studio.

Iris covers Bayley and Murdoch's meeting over 40 years ago while teaching together at Oxford, their marriage and her subsequent struggle with Alzheimer's disease.

Eyre, the former artistic director of Britain's National Theater for nine years, most recently directed Dench to a Tony Award in David Hare's Amy's View on Broadway. He will co-write the script with Charles Wood.