NEW YORK – Forty years after it was an Academy Award-winning film, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” is being adapted for Broadway.

The stage version is expected to open in the fall 2008, producer Jeffrey Finn announced Wednesday.

The 1967 movie concerns a white couple whose daughter brings home her fiance _ a black doctor. The film starred Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy as the parents, Katharine Houghton as their daughter and Sidney Poitier as the fiance.

The movie’s screenplay by William Rose will be adapted by Todd Kreidler, and the production will be directed by Kenny Leon, who recently directed August Wilson’s last play, “Radio Golf,” on Broadway.

“`Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’ is about truth and hypocrisy in the most wonderful country in the world,” Leon said. “Given the times we live in, and the conditions of this country and the world, the essential story is still extremely timely.”

Kreidler worked extensively with Wilson as a dramaturge, who helped edit and shape “Gem of the Ocean” and “Radio Golf.” He is associate artistic director of True Colors Theatre Company, which is run by Leon.

Casting and other details will be announced.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)