Actresses Emily Watson (Angela's Ashes and Hillary and Jackie) and Ruth Wilson (Luther and Small Island) were just announced to have joined the already confirmed Anna Karenina cast here.
Here are a few of the many news articles today about Anna Karenina (or read an official press release via Focus Features)...
Principal Photography Starting on Joe Wright's Anna Karenina (via ComingSoon.net)
Focus Features announced today that JoeRead more: Principal Photography Starting on Joe Wright's Anna Karenina - ComingSoon.netWright's Anna Karenina, starring Keira Knightley, JudeLaw and Aaron Johnson, will start shooting in the U.K. and Russia this month:
Joe Wright will direct the epic romance Anna Karenina, adapted from Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel by Academy Award winner Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love). The Working Title Films production will commence filming in the U.K. and Russia this month. Focus Features will distribute the movie domestically, and Universal Pictures International (UPI) will distribute the movie internationally, in the second half of 2012.
Keira Knightley, Academy Award-nominated for Pride & Prejudice, will star as Anna Karenina in her third collaboration with Mr. Wright. Ms. Knightley will be starring opposite two-time Academy Award nominee Jude Law, as Anna’s husband Aleksei Karenin; and Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy), as Count Vronsky. Rounding out the cast will be Kelly Macdonald (Boardwalk Empire), Matthew Macfadyen (Pride & Prejudice), Domhnall Gleeson (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), Alicia Vikander (The Seventh Son), two-time Academy Award nominee Emily Watson, Olivia Williams (Hanna), and Ruth Wilson (Luther).
Also reteaming with Mr. Wright on Anna Karenina are Academy Award-winning composer Dario Marianelli, twice-Academy Award-nominated costume designer Jacqueline Durran, and three-time Academy Award-nominated production designer Sarah Greenwood. The cinematographer will be Academy Award winner Philippe Rousselot. Melanie Ann Oliver (Focus’ Jane Eyre) will edit the feature. Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui will be the choreographer on the movie.
The story unfolds in its original late-19th-century Russia high-society setting and powerfully explores the capacity for love that surges through the human heart, from the passion between adulterers to the bond between a mother and her children. As Anna (Ms. Knightley) questions her happiness, change comes to her family, friends, and community.
Joe Wright To Direct ‘Anna Karenina’ For Focus With Keira Knightley As Lead (via Deadline)
It’s official: Atonement director Joe Wright and star Keira Knightley are reteaming for Anna Karenina, the Working Title films adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s novel that was written by Tom Stoppard. The film will be distributed by Focus Features in the U.S. and Universal Pictures International worldwide sometime in the second half of 2012. Working Title co-chairs Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner are producing with Paul Webster; the trio were 2008 Oscar nominees as producers of Atonement.
Knightley will star as Anna, Jude Law will play her husband Aleksei Karenin, and Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy) will play Count Vronsky. Kelly Macdonald, Matthew Macfadyen, Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, Emily Watson, Olivia Williams and Ruth Wilson also have been cast in the story of a woman making her way in early-19th-century Russian high society. It’s familiar territory for Wright, who directed the period adaptations Pride & Prejudice and Atonement, also for Working Title and Focus; he also directed The Soloist for Working Title and UPI and most recently Hanna for Focus.
Focus Features to Distribute Director Joe Wright's 'Anna Karenina' (via Hollywood Reporter)
Focus Features will distribute the Joe Wright-directed adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's classic Anna Karenina in the United States in the second half of 2012. Universal Pictures International will distribute the movie internationally.
Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Johnson, Kelly Macdonald, Matthew Macfadyen and Emily Watson star in the adaptation written by Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love). Filming begins in the U.K. and Russia this month.
Working Title co-chairs Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner are producing with Paul Webster.
“Joe Wright is a master filmmaker, and with Tom Stoppard’s brilliant screenplay this Anna Karenina will be full of both pageantry and emotion," said Focus Features CEO James Schamus. "To realize Joe’s vision, we have the perfect producing partners in Working Title and Paul Webster, whose acumen is unsurpassed. With Keira Knightley playing this iconic role and a splendid cast supporting her, today’s moviegoers will be drawn to this powerful story.”
Wright previously made Pride & Prejudice and Atonement with Focus and Working Title.
