'Jane Eyre' Loses Ellen Page, But Has A New Director
Filed under: Classics, Independent, Romance, Deals, Mystery & Suspense, Scripts, DIY/Filmmaking, Remakes and Sequels
Bronte and Austen movie adaptations are cyclical things. Every young actress seems to get her shot at playing Elizabeth Bennet, Emma Woodhouse, Jane Eyre, or Catherine Earnshaw. Five years later, they're now Mature Actresses, and watching the next crop come through the English classics. Right now, we're on the Brontes (spurred undoubtedly by Bella and Edward) and Ruby Films' adaptation of Jane Eyre spurred a lot of talk when it hooked Ellen Page as its poor and plain heroine. Variety reports that Page has officially dropped out of the project, but that it's landed Cary Fukunaga as its director. Fukunaga has earned a lot of positive buzz for his feature debut Sin Nombre, which nabbed him a Best Director award at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Since then he's landed writing-directing deals at Universal and Focus, and it will undoubtedly surprise many that he's eying an English classic as his next film. But hey, if Gothic dramas are good for young actresses, why not young directors too?
As the project now boasts Fukunaga and Moira Buffini (one of Britain's rising screenwriters) Ruby Films now plans to "ramp up casting" for the roles of Jane and Rochester. With Page uninterested, which ingenue will leap at the chance to be one of literature's finest heroines? What brooding hunk will they cast as Rochester? As a lifelong Bronte addict, I await the news with fluttery, Victorian breaths.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-23-2009 @ 11:30AM
Sapheron said...
Rochester is Clive Owen and Jane is... well, while Ellen would have been nice since she fit the description, I would kinda like to not see Jane so plain this time around, someone like Talulah Riley.
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11-03-2009 @ 5:51AM
Lucy_S said...
Joachim Phoenix and Jena Malone for me! But am not particularly overjoyed at the thought of turning a complex classic like Jane Eyre into a Twilight clone.
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11-16-2009 @ 12:14PM
nafsika2004 said...
I would love to see either Rufus Sewell or Hugh Jackman or George Murphy or Ioan Gruffudd as Mr.Rochester from british actors but from americans maybe Johny Depp or Matthew Fox or if you want to spice it up Antonio Banderas!!!!!
For Jane I would love to see Ellen Page if she changes her mind or Felicity Jones!
looking forward.....
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12-17-2009 @ 11:16PM
offended sensibilities said...
Jane Eyre is describe throughout the novel as plain. Rochester is also described as unnatractive. To cast a sexy Jane Eyre and a hunky Edward Rochester undermines the integrity of the story, anyone who has actually read Jane Eyre understands this. Hollywood needs to keep its disgusting paws off the classics and focus on books like Twilight, they can't ruin those, they're already crap.
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12-22-2009 @ 3:47PM
guy'sbiggestfan said...
Jane Eyre is one of my all time favorite books. I'm not sure if Ellen Page would have pulled off the role, so i cant say I'm sad to see her go. As for who should play Rochester...Richard Armitage totally gets my vote!! His age and brooding quality is perfect, even if he is maaaybe a bit too handsome. I am REALLY excited for this version to come out!!
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