In a fairly dark time for the British film industry, the big dogs are still Working Title Films, the company founded by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner in the 1980s, who have been responsible for many, if not most, of the most notable UK films ever since, including “My Beautiful Launderette,” “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Billy Elliot,” “Frost/Nixon” and “Atonement.” The pair have also fostered long-running relationships with the Coen Brothers, going back to “Barton Fink,” and with Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg, funding “Shaun of the Dead,” “Hot Fuzz” and Pegg’s upcoming “Paul.”
It hasn’t been the best few years for the company, however, with a series of expensive, high profile disappointments like “The Boat That Rocked,” “State of Play,” “The Soloist” and one of this year’s biggest flops, Paul Greengrass’ “Green Zone,” and a lengthy profile of the pair over at Deadline has revealed that the duo are returning to safer ground for a while.
With “Nanny McPhee Returns” opening in the States next week, having already made a hefty $60 million internationally (a third film in the series is already thought to be in development), it’s clear which way the company are heading; a sequel to the Rowan Atkinson spy spoof “Johnny English” is filming imminently, and a third “Bridget Jones” film in also in development (as well as a stage musical, with music from Lily Allen).
They’re also collaborating with golden goose Richard Curtis again, as announced a few weeks ago, on the romantic comedy “Lost For Words,” written by Curtis and his brother Jamie and directed by Playlist favorite Tom Harper. We’ve got moderate hopes for that one, and we’re excited about the adaptation of John Le Carre’s “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” from “Let The Right One In” director Tomas Alfredson and starring Gary Oldman, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Fassbender and Colin Firth, but otherwise it’s a very safe, not particularly interesting slate.
There is, however, one new piece of info buried away; the company are working on a film version of long-running West End musical “Les Miserables.” The adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel has been running continuously in London for 25 years, and ran on Broadway from 1987 to 2003, making it the third longest-running show in history there, so it’s something of a surprise that the musical hasn’t made it to screens before now. It sounds like it’s a little way off yet, but one to keep an eye on nevertheless.