A new Ireland-set project is gearing up across the pond as Ciaran Hinds, Charlotte Rampling, Natascha McElhone, Rufus Sewell and Sinead Cusack have been cast in the upcoming adaptation of John Banville‘s novel, The Sea. According to THR, Stephen Brown will be directing the project, with Banville also providing the screenplay.
The project “details the story of a man who returns to the sea where he spent his childhood summers in search of peace following the death of his wife.” Along with the aforementioned stars, newcomers Missy Keating, Matthew Dillon and Padhraig Parkinson have also been cast in various roles.
Luc Roeg (We Need to Talk About Kevin) will be producing alongside Michael Robinson through the U.K. Independent banner with David Collins (Once) for the Irish production label Samson Films. Andrew Orr, Philip Herd, Ernest Bachrach, Rebecca Long, Steve Spence, Michael Sackler and Julia Godzinskaya will all be executive producers for the project. Check out the novel’s synopsis via Amazon:
In this luminous new novel about love, loss, and the unpredictable power of memory, John Banville introduces us to Max Morden, a middle-aged Irishman who has gone back to the seaside town where he spent his summer holidays as a child to cope with the recent loss of his wife. It is also a return to the place where he met the Graces, the well-heeled family with whom he experienced the strange suddenness of both love and death for the first time. What Max comes to understand about the past, and about its indelible effects on him, is at the center of this elegiac, gorgeously written novel — among the finest we have had from this masterful writer.
Roeg stated the following about the project, “I’ve wanted to make a film of John Banville’s haunting and soulful novel for several years and it’s been worth the wait. I’m excited to introduce a new film maker, Stephen Brown, to world cinema and I couldn’t be more delighted with the cast and crew we’ve assembled together with our producing partners at Samson Films.”
Shooting for The Sea will be shot on location in County Wexford, Ireland. Independent Films Sales will be handling the international sales and Independent Distribution will release the film to theaters in Ireland and the U.K. sometime next year, but no word on a U.S. release date as of yet.