Hollywood opens its doors to ‘The Man from Hattusha’
LOS ANGELES
Hollywood heavyweight Shawn Anthony Sequeira, known for producing major titles such as “Avatar,” is preparing to bring the ancient civilizations of Anatolia to global audiences with a new historical epic, “The Man from Hattusha.”
SAS Movie Studios has committed to developing the film, which is based on a novel by Turkish archaeologist Associate Professor Ahmet Çelik and adapted into a screenplay with the involvement of Emmy-winning director and artist Nazim Hajiyev.
Set approximately 3,350 years ago, during the height of the Hittite Empire, the story is rooted in historical events documented on clay tablets discovered during archaeological excavations in modern-day Türkiye. The film will follow a diplomatic mission that could have changed the fate of two great ancient empires — the Hittites and the Egyptians.
Turkish archaeologist Associate Professor Ahmet Çelik.
The original novel, “Hattuşaziti: The Man from Hattusha, an Ancient Envoy from Anatolia,” was authored by Çelik, who has devoted decades to studying ancient Anatolian civilizations. According to the author, the narrative is not fictional but directly inspired by inscriptions on Hittite tablets.
“When Pharaoh Tutankhamun died unexpectedly, his widow, Queen Ankhesenamun, reached out to the Hittite king Suppiluliuma, asking him to send one of his sons to marry her — an unprecedented diplomatic gesture between rivals,” Çelik said. “The Hittite envoy Hattuşaziti was sent to investigate, and his journey — full of political tension and cultural revelations — forms the backbone of our story.”
Çelik initially wrote the novel as a way to bring broader awareness to Hittite history, but it was director Hajiyev who insisted it be adapted for the screen. “After reading it, I realized we were sitting on a cinematic treasure,” Hajiyev said.
Hajiyev, an Emmy Award-winning painter and filmmaker who has worked on both European and American productions, is co-developing the screenplay and has been actively pitching it in Los Angeles. His recent meetings with Sequeira reportedly generated strong interest.
“The Hittites were, at that time, perhaps the most powerful civilization on Earth — possibly even surpassing Egypt,” Hajiyev noted. “But very few people in the world know this. What we have here is not only a thrilling historical narrative, but a chance to introduce an ancient culture that played a pivotal role in shaping diplomacy and power in the ancient world.”
Hajiyev believes the film can resonate globally: “The more I spoke with Hollywood producers, the more I realized that this is not just a Turkish story — it’s a human story. It’s about political strategy, gender, power, religion, and empire. In the current cinematic landscape, which suffers from creative stagnation, a story like this is gold.”
According to both Hajiyev and Çelik, the project could mark a turning point for Turkish cinema. If produced with Hollywood-level resources, “The Man from Hattusha” could become an internationally recognized historical drama on par with films like “Gladiator or Kingdom of Heaven.”
“We are seeing a global audience hungry for meaningful historical narratives,” Hajiyev said. “Turkish cinema has immense stories to tell, and this one could be its breakout moment. It is time we told our own history on the world’s biggest screens.”
