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Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Bronte's Back...


According to Variety, the 'Bronte' biopic is back on track and due to start filming in September:

Michelle Williams, Bryce Dallas Howard and Evan Rachel Wood are lining up to star in "Bronte," a biopic written and to be directed by Charles Sturridge.
Pic is set to shoot in September.

Icon Entertainment Intl. has picked up foreign sales for "Bronte," with ICM representing the project in North America. Alastair Maclean-Clark and Basil Stephens of AMC Pictures are producing. Sturridge's screenplay is based on an original script by Angela Workman.

The Bronte sisters and their brother Branwell grew up in isolation on the Yorkshire moors and went on to write some of the most enduring novels in the canon of English literature -- Charlotte's "Jane Eyre," Emily's "Wuthering Heights" and Anne's "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall."

As children, they created epic fantasy worlds to entertain themselves, led by the charismatic Branwell, but when he descended into alcohol and opium abuse, the sisters had to find their own way in a world dominated by strict patriarchal conventions. This initially forced them to disguise their identities by publishing under male pseudonyms.

Sturridge commented, "My family comes from Yorkshire, and I grew up with five sisters, so this is a story I have always wanted to tell."

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

i find this casting to be somewhat disappointing.

Anonymous said...

Yay! I am very excited. Casting suggests it will be high profile, at least, so lots of lovely press. I was convinced it would never see the light of day, as well, so extra happy. Something to look forward too now post-JE depression has set in!

Brontëana said...

to gandydancer:

I'm assuming one (or two) of the following are disappointing: that they are American actors, or that they are too attractive. That seems to be the prevailing criticisms flying around at the moment.

Brontëana said...

to liz:

It has had a rough conception so far. I hope that it works out in the end. Personally, I wasn't too thrilled with how it was going before, so I have more reason to hope.

I am, however, already disturbed by the growing legion of Branwell fangirls...

Aw, don't be depressed! There's always snarking to be done. Just look at all the fun we had with the Patrick MacNee version!

Anonymous said...

Ha, snark. I miss snark! I'm sure there's lots of 2006 snark to be done. I like it a lot, but the more I consider it, the more I am disatisfied...

Anonymous said...

liz, I couldn't have said it better myself. I like the 2006 version from a JE fangirl pov, but as a scholar of literature and all-out Bronte afficionato, I think the script really is a travesty.

So I just try to leave my brain behind when I watch it... which is still far too frequently, alas!

I'm just hoping right now that "Bronte" doesn't wind up being as bad as I think it's going to be...