After signing a contract with producer David O. Selznick, Alfred Hitchcock's first American project was an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's "Rebecca." The film was a huge success and even snagged Hitchcock his first Oscar nomination for Best Director, and now it seems like we're due for another retelling of the story.
It's been announced that Armie Hammer (CALL ME BY YOUR NAME) and Lily James (MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN) are set to star in REBECCA for Netflix and Working Title. Ben Wheatley (HIGH RISE) is set to helm the film from a screenplay by Jane Goldman (KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE). They're avoiding calling it a remake of the Alfred Hitchcock film, but rather, a new adaptation of the novel which "follows a newly married young woman who, upon arriving at her husband’s imposing family estate on a bleak English coast, finds herself battling the shadow of his deceased first wife, the mysterious Rebecca, whose legacy continues to haunt the house." It's expected that production on REBECCA will kick off in the spring. The Hitchcock film starred Laurence Olivier as the the brooding widower Maxim de Winter and Joan Fontaine as the second Mrs. de Winter.
A synopsis of "Rebecca" via Amazon:
The unassuming young heroine of Rebecca finds her life changed overnight when she meets Maxim de Winter, a handsome and wealthy widower whose sudden proposal of marriage takes her by surprise. Rescuing her from an overbearing employer, de Winter whisks her off to Manderley, his isolated estate on the windswept Cornish coast–but there things take a chilling turn. Max seems haunted by the memory of his glamorous first wife, Rebecca, whose legacy is lovingly tended by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers. As the second Mrs. de Winter finds herself increasingly burdened by the shadow of her mysterious predecessor, she becomes determined to uncover the dark secrets that threaten her happiness, no matter the cost.
Armie Hammer will next be seen in Mimi Leder's ON THE BASIS OF SEX, which stars Felicity Jones as Ruth Bader Ginsburg, on December 25, 2018. As for Lily James, her next project will be Danny Boyle and Richard Curtis' untitled musical comedy which is said to center on a struggling musician who thinks he’s the only person who can remember the Beatles. That film is set for a June 28, 2019 release.
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