Fox to develop film on gay marriage ruling

NEW YORK (AP) — 20th Century Fox is developing a film about the U.S. Supreme Court case that made same-sex marriage a nationwide right.

A representative for Fox confirmed Tuesday the studio has acquired the life rights to Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit that last month became a landmark in the gay rights movement.

Fox also obtained the life rights to Obergefell's lawyer, Al Gerhardstein, and the rights to a book proposal by Obergefell and journalist Debbie Cenziper.

The project will be developed by the 20th Century Fox division Fox 2000, known for book adaptions such as Life of Pi and The Devil Wears Prada.

Obergefell, an Ohio real estate agent, sued after Ohio refused to list him as the spouse to his longtime partner, John Arthur, on Arthur's death certificate after his death in 2013. The two had been legally married in Maryland.

The New York Times , which first reported the film project late Tuesday, said Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen will produce the movie. Godfrey's producing credits include The Fault in Our Stars, which took in more than $307 million worldwide last year.

"It's a transcendent love story about someone who goes to such a length for love that he ends up changing the world," Godfrey told the paper in a phone interview.

A finished film is at least two years away.