Ever since Cary Fukunaga (writer/director of Sin Nombre) announced that he would be directing an adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Erye, many have been anxiously awaiting to see the project take form.

In November, it was announced that Mia Wasikowska (Amelia, Alice in Wonderland) would be playing the role of Jane Eyre, and Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds, Fish Tank) would be playing the role of Rochester. In the novel, Jane is a young, plain governess, who falls for her older employer, only to discover he is harboring a dark secret.

Now it appears that Judi Dench, Jamie Bell, Sally Hawkins and Imogen Poots are in negotiations to join the cast. Dench (Nine, Quantum of Solace) will play Mrs. Fairfax, the housekeeper of Thornfield Manor who hires Jane, and disproves of Jane’s relationship with Rochester. Bell (Defiance, Billy Elliot) will play St. John, a young clergyman who helps Jane in a time of need, and turns out to be connected to her by blood. Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky, An Education) will play Mrs. Reed, Jane’s terrible aunt, who terrorizes and abuses Jane as a orphaned child. Poots’ (Me and Orson Welles, V for Vendetta) role is currently unknown.

Jane Eyre has been the subject of several film adaptations including most recently by Franco Zeffirelli in 1996 starring Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Alison Owen and Paul Trijbits of Ruby Films are producing ‘Eyre’ with BBC Films and Focus Features. Shooting is set to begin in March, with a release most likely in 2011.

What do you think of these new cast additions?