BBC planning latest ‘Brideshead Revisited’ remake, with Luca Guadagnino to direct

[Canada]

Source: Deadline

The BBC is planning the latest reimagining of Evelyn Waugh’s classic novel Brideshead Revisited, with Parade’s End producer Mammoth Screen attaching Call Me By Your Name helmer Luca Guadagnino to write and direct.

Deadline has heard that a deal for the miniseries is close to being finalized at the BBC and Mammoth will co-produce with Moonage Pictures, which is currently making another ambitious period BBC drama in the shape of Lily James starrer The Pursuit Of Love.

BBC drama controller Piers Wenger has been speaking to Guadagnino about an adaptation for two years and has flown to Italy to discuss the project with the writer/director. Separately, Guadagnino’s Sky/HBO series We Are Who We Are has also been picked up by BBC Three in the UK.

The Daily Mail reported that HBO and a stellar cast — including Ralph Fiennes, Cate Blanchett and Andrew Garfield — have signed up for the Brideshead Revisited remake, though Deadline understands that this is premature.

Mammoth is still speaking to a number of broadcasters in the U.S., including HBO, and casting deals remain in flux. Rooney Mara and Joe Alwyn were two other names the Daily Mail linked to the series.

Brideshead Revisited, The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder tells the story of Ryder and his friendship with aristocratic family, the Flytes, who live in the palatial Brideshead Castle.

Ryder has relationships with two of the Flytes: Sebastian, who he befriends at Oxford University, and Julia, as the 1945 book explores themes of aristocratic nostalgia, Catholicism, and homosexuality.

Brideshead Revisited was adapted by ITV in 1981, with Jeremy Irons memorably playing Ryder, while it was also the subject of a 2008 feature from Ecosse Films and HanWay Films. Matthew Goode played Ryder in the Julian Jarrold-directed movie.

The Daily Mail reported that Garfield is set to take on the role of Ryder in Mammoth/Moonage’s adaptation, with Fiennes and Blanchett playing Lord and Lady Marchmain. The show is set to go into production next year.