Somto BisinaBeta Cinema has closed the first major pre-sales for The Offing, a period drama starring Helena Bonham Carter based on the novel by Benjamin Myers, which Emmy winner Jessica Hobbs (The Crown) will direct.
Curzon, Cineart and Madman have joined forces to acquire all rights for UK/Ireland, Benelux and Australia/New Zealand in what is described as a competitive situation.
The distributors will work on an aligned campaign across the markets. Beta first launched The Offing at the EFM in February. Filming is lined up for later this year.
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The UK-set project is directed by Emmy-winner Jessica Hobbs (The Crown) with Bonham Carter among executive producers. The screenplay is by Amy Roberts (The Winter King, Call the Midwife).
Set in North East England shortly after World War II, The Offing will see Carter play Dulcie Piper, a hard drinking, foul-mouthed, bohemian recluse who strikes up an unusual friendship with 16-year-old Robert, a shy, nature-loving son of a miner who is determined to see something of the world before he joins his father down the pit.
Under Piper’s tutelage, at her idyllic cottage and garden by the sea, Robert’s life opens to food, girls and the transformative beauty of poetry. But Piper has a tragic secret that has kept her in hiding. When Robert discovers the truth, he is compelled to force her to open her own heart and re-engage with the world.
“The Offing offers a fresh perspective on post-war England, refusing easy nostalgia and giving us two unique characters striving to create beauty and meaning within a society stifled by years of conflict,” Curzon, Cineart and Madman said in a joint statement.
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