More to Atonement

We reported back in March that Keira Knightley had agreed to join her fellow Pride & Prejudice alums Joe Wright (director) and Paul Webster (producer) in the screen version of Ian McEwan's Booker-nominated novel, Atonement. After lying dormant for several month, the movie is once again in the news, and its cast is growing. According to Variety, Knightley will be sharing the screen with some pretty impressive talent: In addition to James McAvoy, already cast as the male lead, the cast now included British screen queens Brenda Blethyn and Vanessa Redgrave, as well as Romola Garai (you remember her, I'm sure, from Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights).

Currently shooting in the UK, the film "tells a series of interconnected stories, all of which hinge loosely on the childhood actions of Briony Tallis [to be played by Saoirse Ronan as a child, and Knightley as an adult], a privileged young girl with an overactive imagination." Among other things, young Briony imagines that her sister's boyfriend is a criminal, an erroneous accusation that causes problems for a whole lot of people.

Atonement will be released in the US by Focus some time next year.

Edit: Though Knightley was originally (erroneously, it appears) reported to be playing the adult Briony, she in fact plays Cecilia, the sister whose boyfriend is the victim of Briony's accusation. Thanks to Gerry for providing the correct casting information.