Leo Tolstoy’s epic novel Anna Karenina (among my favorites of all time!) is currently in-development for the big screen. There are lots of rumors circulating that Atonement director Joe Wright is attached to the project, but who will be cast in this classic romance-drama-tragedy?
According to Total Film, Wright’s on-screen muse, Keira Knightly (who’s starred in two of his films, Pride & Prejudice and Atonement), is likely to take the lead. In addition, we’ve learned that Jude Law (Repo Men) is in contention for a part, but it’s not clear whether he will play Vronsky, “The charming Count who falls for married woman Anna,” or perhaps “he could play Anna’s smarmy brother Stiva.”
Kick-Ass and Nowhere Boy star Aaron Johnson is also in line for the movie and “seems most closely suited to the role of Levin, an insecure, reserved landowner (believed by many to be a Tolstoy stand-in).” The website also provides this insight to Johnson’s participation: “It’s arguable a supporting role, but no less pivotal for that, as he’s a key link between many characters, and has his own satisfying arc.”
The story itself has been revered as one of the best novels of all time, especially by the likes of the brilliant William Faulkner, but has failed to achieve Oscar love with its film versions. The L.A. Times tells us, “Greta Garbo was voted best actress by the New York Film Critics Circle for her 1935 rendition of the lead role, but she wasn’t even nominated at the Academy Awards. The 1948 screen version starring Vivien Leigh was snubbed too.”
Shakespeare in Love scribe Tom Stoppard will be behind the adaptation which may be “a challenge to update in modern times considering its central theme is not so shocking today: A married woman falls in love with a count, but her husband won’t grant her a divorce.”
It was recently announced that Johnson would reprise his Kick-Ass role as Dave Lizewski in a sequel called Balls to the Wall, so shooting is probably to begin this fall. While Law’s plate has been mighty full with three films (Contagion, Hugo Cabaret, and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows) in post-production, IMDB tells us that he’s aso set up for three more films for this and next year (The Last Voyage of Demeter, 360, and Rise of the Guardians).
In addition, Knightley has wrapped on the Sigmund Freud-Carl Jung thriller, A Dangerous Method, alongside Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender, respectively. Wright’s latest project Hanna, starring Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, and Cate Blanchett, has a lot of press coming its way, so we’re sure that he’ll be up for discussing any future development of Anna Karenina.
Given the recent release of Jane Eyre, Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming The Great Gatsby, and now Wright’s association with Anna Karenina, what do you think about these literary classics turning into movies again and again?
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