Helena Bonham Carter is off(ing) to her next project…
The 56-year-old part-Spanish British actress, a two time Oscar nominee, will star in the period drama The Offing, which Beta Cinema will launch sales on at next week’s EFM.
Bonham Carter is reteaming with The Crown director Jessica Hobbs on the project.
Hobbs, an Emmy winner who is currently directing HBO drama The Palace with Kate Winslet and Hugh Grant, has directed the second-most episodes of Netflix’s smash series The Crown, including multiple episodes with Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret.
Their new collaboration is an adaptation of Benjamin Myers’ well-received novel set in post war northern England. The film charts the intense and uplifting relationship between a teenage boy and a hard drinking, foul-mouthed, bohemian recluse called Dulcie (Bonham Carter).
Casting is underway for the 16 year-old Robert, a shy, nature-loving son of a miner who sets out to see a little more of the world before he follows his father down the pit. Under Dulcie’s eccentric tutelage, his life opens up to food, girls, and the transformative beauty of poetry. Over time he discovers that her idyllic home is hiding a tragic secret about Dulcie’s great love and the two go on a journey which will open Dulcie’s own heart and re-engage her with the world.
The film is being produced by Charlotte Walls and Emily Barttelot for Catalyst Global Media, which developed the film with support from Beta. Amy Roberts is adapting the screenplay and Bonham Carter is also aboard as an executive producer. Shooting is being lined up for later this year.
“The Offing presents the notion that being introduced to the right person can transform your life forever,” says Bonham Carter. “Dulcie teaches Robert how to live – everyone needs a Dulcie Piper in their life! And Robert, after uncovering Dulcie’s secret, leads her to peace. From the beginning I wanted Jessica Hobbs on board. She is so brilliant with character and rigorous about being authentic with following the psychological and emotional story. If we can succeed in capturing an iota of Benjamin Myers’ novel the film will be beautiful and a life enhancer. In Jessica’s hands I have little doubt we will.”
Jessica Hobbs commented: “When I first read the book, Helena Bonham Carter was immediately vividly present as Dulcie. She is so unapologetically, joyously, who she is, as is Dulcie. What the film ultimately delivers is a deep and timely meditation on the power of friendship, of creativity, of healing in the most unexpected of ways. I am excited to have the chance to work closely with Helena again since we were last together on The Crown. She is a spectacular actress and a director’s dream.“
Tassilo Hallbauer, Beta Cinema’s Head of Sales & Acquisitions, added: “We immediately felt very strongly about this very modern, warm-hearted and funny take on a period drama. The characters, the language, the unapologetic nature of our heroine, make this film vastly contemporary and relevant. The Offing is incredibly charming, extremely entertaining and truly uplifting – exactly what audiences around the world want to see right now.”
The King’s Speech and Alice In Wonderland star Bonham Carter is currently on screens as the lead role in Nolly, the new UK series from Doctor Who showrunner and It’s A Sin creator Russel T Davies.
Benjamin Myers’ novel The Gallows Pole won the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction and is being adapted as a six-part TV series co-produced by the BBC and A24, directed by Shane Meadows.
Nolly played Meg Richardson in the hit ITV soap Crossroads before she was abruptly axed at the height of the show’s success. With the boss’ words “all good things must come to an end” ringing in her ears, Gordon found herself thrown out of the show that was her life for almost 20 years. Her firing was front-page news.