Film adaptation of 'Hepta' to hit Egypt's cinemas

The highly anticipated screen adaptation of Egyptian novelist Mohamed Sadek's bestselling novel "Hepta" will hit cinemas in Egypt on April 20.

Titled "Hepta: The Last Lecture", the star-studded film was directed by Egyptian filmmaker and producer Hadi El-Bagoury. The ensemble cast includes Maged El-Kedwany, Amr Youssef, Ahmed Dawood, Dina El-Sherbiny, Jamila Awad and Yasmine Raeis . The film will also features Nelly Karim and Anouskha.

"Since we, as a team, started the book-to-film adaptation of Hepta, we've been waiting for the moment of witnessing the audiences' reactions to the film in its final form," El-Bagoury said, according to a press release .

"The film Hepta in all cinemas April 20."

"Each and every single one of the crew has spent the most effort possible, so I wish that this shows on screen and 'Hepta: The Last Lecture' receives the praise needed in Egypt and the Arab world."

The romantic drama, which started shooting in December of 2015, features El-Kedwany in the main role. He plays Shukri Mokhtar, the psychology professor in the book who explores the rocky world of love and relationships at length in a ,six-hour lecture.

The professor's name, which is originally Osama in the novel, is among a number of changes made to the story for its big screen debut.

“We did some clever tweaks to the book to make the characters intersect,” producer Hani Osama told Variety last December, adding that the universal theme of the film will allow it to have crossover potential.

The novel, which is named after the Greek word for the number seven, has been immensely successful in Egypt and the Arab World since it was initially released in 2014, topping bestseller charts and selling more than 35 editions.

Its story portrays what the professor considers the seven essential stages of love through four paralleled narratives of different couples at different stages in life. The seven stages are broken down into: The "beginning," the "encounter," the "relationship," the "realization," the "truth," the "decision," and finally the "Hepta" stage.