Jess Walter’s generation-spanning romance Beautiful Ruins tore up the bestseller charts and topped critical best-of lists when it was released last year, so no one was really surprised when Cross Creek Pictures and Smuggler Films promptly snapped up rights to the film adaptation. Interest in the project shot up dramatically, however, when Todd Field, the acclaimed director of In the Bedroom and Little Children signed on to direct. Now, Beautiful Ruins has its first actress as Field has selected the rising Imogen Poots to star in the film.
Poots will portray Dee Moray, a gorgeous ingenue who escapes to an Italian village during the 1962 shoot of Cleopatra when she’s told that she is dying. Walter’s book followed her story while also exploring a parallel plot set in modern-day Hollywood.
All signs point towards Poots, best known for her roles in the Fright Night remake and James McAvoy’s polarizing dark comedy Filth, emerging as one of next year’s breakout stars. She recently wrapped a slew of impressive projects scheduled for 2014, including the mysterious Terrence Malick film Knight of Cups, Aaron Paul’s action vehicle Need for Speed, a Peter Bogdanovich comedy called Squirrels to the Nuts, Jimi Hendrix biopic All Is by My Side, romantic comedy That Awkward Moment and star-studded character drama A Long Way Down.
Conversely, Beautiful Ruins marks Field’s first directorial effort in seven years. The director’s last two films were met with widespread acclaim and countless prestigious awards, so prospects for this project look positively rosy, and Field’s many fans will certainly be gratified to see him working behind the camera again. As with In the Bedroom and Little Children, the director will also be penning the script for Beautiful Ruins.
Filming will commence on location in Italy next May, with a late 2014/early 2015 release date in mind.
Did you get a chance to read Beautiful Ruins and, if so, do you approve of Field’s choice for the role? Sound off in the comments section!
Published: Nov 15, 2013 05:09 pm