John Gore Studios today announced that Emmy and BAFTA-nominated Charles Dance (Game of Thrones, Frankenstein), two-time Academy Award nominee, multi-BAFTA nominee, and two-time Golden Globe winner Miranda Richardson (The Last Anniversary, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), Buom Tihngang (Cheaters, Karen Pirie), Laurent Lafitte (Elle, The Count of Monte Cristo), Yves Heck (Things to Come, The White Crow), Roxane Duran (Interview With A Vampire season 2, Mrs Harris goes to Paris), Jill Baker (Wolf, Happy Valley), Lambert Wilson (Matrix Reloaded, Of Gods and Men), Philippe Spall (Andor, Downton Abbey), David Langham (His Dark Materials, The Larkins), Richard Meek (The Rocky Horror Show, The Producers), and David Bamber (Mad to Be Normal, Pride and Prejudice) will join previously announced Golden Globe winner Joan Collins and Academy Award ®, BAFTA nominee and SAG Award ensemble winner Isabella Rossellini (Conclave) in The Bitter End which is now in production.
The producers are also thrilled to announce key creatives for the film which include multi Academy Award ®, BAFTA and Costume Designers Guild Award winning costume designer Sandy Powell (Shakespeare in Love, The Aviator, Carol). Academy Award ®, BAFTA and BIFA Award winning Hair and Make-up Designer Nadia Stacey (Cruella, Poor Things). Emmy Award winning Production Designer Gemma Jackson (Game of Thrones, Finding Neverland, The Gentlemen). Multi Emmy, BAFTA and RTS Award winning Director of Photography Mike Eley BSC (The Dig’ and ‘My Cousin Rachel’).
Directed by multi-award-winning director Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral) and penned by screenwriter and novelist Louise Fennell, the film charts the shocking untold story of the final years of Wallis Simpson, the American divorcee who became the Duchess of Windsor after marrying King Edward VIII, the British King who chose love over duty.
Collins will star as Wallis Simpson alongside Rossellini who will star as Suzanne Blum, the formidable French lawyer and confidante of Simpson who at the hands of Blum found herself ensnared in a menacing grip of obsession and coercive control.
Fennell’s screenplay explores the chilling true story of the deeply complex and sinister relationship between Blum and Simpson and how as a result Wallis’s once-glamorous life spiralled into terror and desperation in the last years of her life.
John Gore says, “We are thrilled to announce the exceptional cast and creative team joining Joan Collins and Isabella Rossellini in The Bitter End. Assembling a team of this calibre—under Mike Newell’s direction, from Louise Fennell’s sharp script to the extraordinary talents of Sandy Powell, Nadia Stacey, Gemma Jackson and Mike Eley—speaks to the strength of the project. It’s an exciting project for John Gore Studios as we commit to producing distinctive British stories for global audiences.”
The film will be produced by John Gore, Richard Holmes and Francis Hopkinson and executive produced by Hilary Strong, Michael Foster and Percy Gibson.
Filming will take place in the UK and marks the first production to shoot on the historic stages of Ealing Studios following its recent expansion and renovation.
Worldwide Sales are handled by Embankment Films. Isabella Rossellini is represented by UTA and Wolf Kasteler.
Read more at Screen International.