Ealing Studios has completed a deal to partner with Lionhead Productions on the Oscar-winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes’ second feature film From Time To Time with Ealing Studios International taking worldwide rights.
The film will star veteran Maggie Smith (Gosford Park) and Timothy Spall (Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire), Hugh Bonneville (Notting Hill) and Anne Reid (Hot Fuzz) with other cast soon to be announced. The deal was negotiated between James Spring at Ealing Studios and Paul Kingsley of Lionhead Productions.
Fellowes, who won an Oscar for writing on Gosford Park, will direct the film - about boy’s journey through time to discover his family’s dramatic and mysterious past - from his own screenplay, based on Lucy M Boston’s series of books The Children of Green Knowe.
According to the press release: "Fellowes has created two distinct worlds, in times of war two centuries apart, linked by a single family and the house in which they live.
"Thirteen year-old Tolly Oldknow is sent to spend Christmas with his grandmother, far from wartime London, where he becomes a witness to events during the Napoleonic wars and finds himself slowly drawn into participating in the drama.
"Invisible in the past, he begins to unravel the mystery which has bewildered his family for two centuries. The solution of the puzzle leads him into his greatest adventure yet."
The film will be shot on location in London and at locations including the imposing Athelhampton House in Dorset where the original Sleuth was filmed.
Ealing Studios Managing Director James Spring said: "We’re very pleased to be working with Julian and such a talented creative team on this project and are really excited to add this film to our Cannes slate."
From Time To Time is the third film to be added to Ealing Studios International slate alongside St Trinian's and I Want Candy, all three titles will be for sale in Cannes. This year is the first year Ealing Studios will in Cannes as a fully integrated studio and international sales company.
