A year after it was announced, word has come that “A Royal Affair” helmer Nikolaj Arcel has hopped onboard to direct the latest screen adaptation of Daphne Du DuMaurier’s classic psychological noir thriller “Rebecca” at DreamWorks and Working Title Films.
The book was previously adapted in 1940 as the first American film by then rising young director Alfred Hitchcock – it went on to score a Best Picture and Best Cinematography Oscar win along with nine other nominations. Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine and Judith Anderson starred.
“Eastern Promises” scribe Steven Knight will go back to DuMaurier’s original novel which follows an American woman who marries a 40-something widower Maximillian de Winter after a whirlwind romance, and moves into his rambling mansion Manderley.
Mrs. Danvers, the housekeeper, was profoundly devoted to Max’s first wife Rebecca and continuously psychologically undermines her ‘replacement’. At the same time divers discover the remains of Rebecca’s boat and the truth about her relationship with Max and her death begin to emerge.
Arcel, who co-scripted the original Swedish-language film & TV adaptation of “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”, is expected to film this after he wraps an adaptation of “Savages” author Don Winslow’s best-selling novel “The Power Of The Dog”
Source: Deadline
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