On Chesil Beach gets back up
Some five years after a big-screen adaptation of On Chesil Beach was first mooted, production now looks set to be up and running in the autumn with Saoirse Ronan attached to star.
Ian McEwan has adapted his own novella – shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2007 – which centres on a honeymooning couple in 1960s Dorset reflecting on their hopes, regrets and fears for the future.
Producers Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley are developing the project for Number 9 Films. Dominic Cooke – best known for his work as artistic director of the Royal Court – is at the helm.
Cooke also directed the latest tranche of the BBC”s Shakespeare trilogy, The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses, comprising Richard III and Henry VI Parts 1 and 2, which began shooting in autumn 2014 and which marked Cooke”s TV directorial debut.
When On Chesil Beach first honed into view as a film adaptation back in 2011, listed on PI, it was under the auspices of Neal Street Productions (producers of The Hollow Crown), BBC Films and Studio Canal. The ensuing months saw many changes to the project, including the attachment of director Mike Newell and the casting of Carey Mulligan in the lead role, now to be played by Ronan.
Subscribers to PI should follow On Chesil Beach on our site, as we will be updating with specifics as pre-production draws near.
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