Cannes starts next week, which means producers and buyers are flocking to the market, which means a bunch of projects are being announced, so let’s just dive in…
Kate Winslet has signed on to star in “The Dressmaker,” revenge-romance movie set to be directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse (“Proof,” “A Thousand Acres“), who adapted the novel by Rosalie Ham for the big screen. The movie will follow “Tilly (Winslet), an avenging angel who returns home to the remote Australian country town from which she fled as a child after being accused of murder. Although ostracised, Tilly, an exponent of stunning ’40s haute couture, liberates and empowers the town’s women with her wit and her fashionable designs. She eventually finds unexpected love and is able to exact revenge on those who wronged her.” Pre-production begins this fall. [Screen Daily]
Geek fave David Tennant, Rosamund Pike and Billy Connolly are teaming up for “What We Did On Our Holiday.” Tennant and Pike will play “a couple going through marital discord as they travel from their home ‘down South’ to visit relatives in Scotland.” Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin direct the movie which shoots this summer. [Daily Mail]
Is real estate comedy a new genre? We’ll find out as Maggie Smith and Kevin Kline are set to star in “My Old Lady,” marking the directorial debut of Israel Horovitz, who wrote the play it’s based on. Here’s what it’s about: “Kline plays a down-and-out New Yorker, who travels to Paris to liquidate a valuable apartment he inherited from his estranged father. Once he arrives in the city of lights, Mathias discovers a refined old lady (Smith) living in the apartment with her daughter (Jane Birkin). His plans are thwarted when he discovers that due to French law, he will not actually get possession of the apartment until the woman dies.” Laughter and feelings? Shooting begins in September. [The Wrap]
Lastly, Jim Broadbent will star in the Ridley Scott-produced comedy “Get Santa.” Christopher Smith will direct “the story of a father and son who team-up to save Christmas when they discover Santa sleeping in their garage, having crashed his sleigh.” Yay. [Screen Daily]