Back in January it was announced that Marc Munden (National Treasure, Utopia) will be directing a new adaptation Frances Hogson Burnett’s classic 1911 book The Secret Garden from a script by Jack Thorne (The Scouting Book for Boys, Wonder), and now Heyday Films and StudioCanal have officially announced the start of production.
Colin Firth and Julie Walters will lead a cast that also includes Dixie Egerickx, Edan Hayhurst, Amir Wilson and Isis Davis. Check out the official synopsis for the film here:
Set in England, THE SECRET GARDEN tells the story of Mary Lennox played by Dixie Egerickx best known for her roles in GENIUS, THE LITTLE STRANGER and A ROYAL WINTER, a prickly and unloved 10-year-old girl, born in India to wealthy British parents who never wanted her. When her parents suddenly die, she is sent back to England to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven (Oscar and BAFTA-winner Colin Firth – A SINGLE MAN, THE KING’S SPEECH, KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE, BRIDGET JONES’S BABY) on his remote country estate deep in the Yorkshire moors. There, she begins to uncover many family secrets, particularly when she meets her sickly cousin Colin (Edan Hayhurst – GENIUS, IT WOULD CHANGE EVERYTHING), shut away in a wing of the house. It is a story of two damaged, slightly misfit, children who heal each other – partly through their exposure to a wondrous secret garden, lost in the grounds of Misselthwaite Manor. Oscar nominated and BAFTA-winning Julie Walters (PADDINGTON 1 & 2, MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN, FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL) will play Mrs Medlock, the head housekeeper at Misselthwaite. Amir Wilson (THE KID WHO WOULD BE KING) joins the stellar cast as Dickon with Isis Davis (GUILT,ELECTRIC DREAMS) as Martha.
“This is a fantastical reimagining of The Secret Garden: I can’t wait to explore it,” said director Munden. “It’s an opportunity to immerse ourselves in an uncanny and wondrous world, which will play to the imaginations of adults and children alike.”
“I’m delighted to be working again with StudioCanal on The Secret Garden, brought so vividly to life by writer Jack Thorne,” said producer David Heyman. “I’m excited that our director, Marc Munden, will be bringing his distinct imaginative vision to this enduring childhood story. And I could not be more thrilled that Colin Firth and Julie Walters have joined the journey, alongside a remarkable new trio of young actors.”
