Outlander star Caitríona Balfe is joining an A-list of British talent in an upcoming "dark and mysterious" romance drama, inspired by Daphne du Maurier and her seminal novel Rebecca. Production is scheduled to commence on February 9.
Uma Thurman and Phoebe Dynevor, who were formerly attached to the project, are no longer appearing.
Balfe joins Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Laird (who you'll recognise from The Brutalist and 28 Years Later), and the previously announced Anthony Hopkins in the film from writer Rose Tremain, Deadline reports. The film is based on Tremain's short story and soon-to-be-published novel from Penguin Random House UK and Harper Collins US.
The Housekeeper is set against the foreboding Cornish landscape. Balfe plays Dannie, a housekeeper at the imposing Manderville Hall, a historic manor house owned by the wealthy and widowed Lord Grenville-Whithers. Does any of this sound familiar, yet?
The synopsis continues: "When the young writer Daphne du Maurier (Laird) arrives, Danni is drawn into a clandestine and intoxicating affair. For one, it is an all-consuming love; for the other, an awakening of long-suppressed desires.
"Their fragile secret threatens to unravel under the watchful gaze of Adelaide (Bonham Carter), Lord Grenville-Whithers’ calculating niece."
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Helming the romance is award-winning director Sir Richard Eyre, known for The Children Act, Notes on a Scandal, and the Denzel Washington-starrer King Lear, among many others. In a statement, Eyre said: "Rose Tremain has written a brilliant screenplay which is dark and surprising and mysterious, and we look forward to making a film which lives up to its promise."
Producer Herbert L Kloiber added: “The Housekeeper promises audiences an intoxicating blend of passion, elegance, and emotional truth, brought to life through Rose Tremain’s exquisite writing and Richard Eyre’s masterful direction.”
"Assembling a cast of such calibre speaks to the power of Rose’s storytelling, and to Richard’s standing amongst the great British directors," said fellow producer Julia Taylor-Stanley. "We are excited to be working with our talent on bringing this compelling story to the screen," she added.
It's shaping up to be a year of dark and dangerous yearning, with Wuthering Heights, starring Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie, also captivating our tortured hearts.
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