Anna Nicole Smith‘s tragic death on February 8, 2007, left a huge hole in the hearts of those who knew and loved her. In an EXCLUSIVE interview with HollywoodLife, the late model and actress’s best friends — Patrik Simpson and his husband, celebrity fashion designer, Pol’ Atteu — revealed for the first time their plans to honor their fallen friend in a way that will keep her memory alive forever! “I am super excited to announce this to you on the 15th anniversary of Anna’s death that our book, Anna Nicole Smith – Portrait of An Icon, which was published in 2008 by Kings Road Publishing and contains intimate stories and memories of our friendship, as well as never before seen photos, is being turned into a new biopic film,” Patrik told us.
To be clear, there are several projects currently in development about the late Playboy Playmate’s life, and the circumstances surrounding her death. One of these is an untitled documentary on Anna Nicole that is coming to Netflix. The second one, a biopic called Hurricanna, was announced by Deadline one day ago. This, however, is a separate film and it is not focused on her death, so much, as it is her life — and the friendships that she had along the way. “We are going to make sure that this does her right because she was not just what the world painted her to be. She was a kind, loving, sincere friend who would do anything for the people she loved,” Patrik told us.
According to Patrik — who works as an executive producer and star of the Amazon Prime reality series Gown and Out in Beverly Hills alongside his husband, Pol, details about the projects are already being cemented into place. “American Media Television, LLC has partnered with Illusion Islands Productions to develop and produce our biopic about the friendship we shared with Anna,” Patrik told us. “The film will be based on our book and directed and produced by Jack Andrew Cook, who just had success with his latest film, The Elevator, as well as with Eric Roberts and Eugenia Kuzmina.”
What makes this project stand apart from the others? According to Pol and Patrik — who created the wedding gown she wore when she married Howard K Stern in the Bahamas, as well as Pol’ Atteu original custom gown that Anna was buried in –, their biopic will not be about her demons. “Her issues surrounding addiction didn’t define who Anna was,” Patrik said. “She was so much more than all of that. No one knew her like us. When she died, there was a photo placed in her casket of us, as well as a photo of her dogs, among others. We miss her every single day and we know that this will make her proud.”