Director Thomas Napper (“Jawbone”) is behind a new feature film that will chronicle the gritty journey in the early years of the Veuve Clicquot vineyard in 19th-century France. The film brings to life the fascinating young woman behind the iconic orange label that helped transform the French champagne house into something iconic.
Deadline reports that Haley Bennett, “Sandman” actor Tom Sturridge, Sam Riley, Leo Suter, and Anson Boon have all joined the cast. Bennett takes the crucial role of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot, the aforementioned young woman who builds the champagne empire.
The film’s script comes from screenwriters Erin Dignam and Christopher Monger and is based on the novel “The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire & The Woman Who Ruled It” by author Tilar J. Mazzeo.
Here is the novel’s logline from publisher HarperCollins:
“The Widow Clicquot” is the New York Times bestselling business biography of the visionary young widow who built a champagne empire, became a legend in her tumultuous times, and showed the world how to live with style. Tilar J. Mazzeo brings to life the woman behind the label, Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin, in this utterly intoxicating book that is as much a fascinating journey through the process of making this temperamental wine as a biography of a uniquely tempered and fascinating woman.
Filmmaker Joe Wright, who directed Bennett in “Cyrano,” is part of the film’s production team, which also includes Christina Weiss Lurie and John Bernard.
Cameras are rolling as “Clicquot” has already started production in the French regions of Chablis and Reims earlier this month. Thankfully, the film is shot on location in France, which should hopefully lend the film a sense of genuine authenticity.