Emma Corrin and Jack O’Connell have signed on to star in a new adaptation of Lady Chatterley’s Lover, the first joint production between Sony and Netflix. The streaming platform will be offered a first look at movies the traditional studio intends to produce for streaming.
The film is based on D.H. Lawrence‘s classic 1929 novel. It follows the life of the titular Lady Chatterley, who upon realizing she has fallen out of love with the wealthy man she married, begins an affair with her home’s gamekeeper, whom she eventually realizes she wants to spend the rest of her life with. To the chagrin and shock of her well-bred peers, of course.
Once published, the book quickly gained a notorious reputation for its representation of a physical relationship between a working-class man and an upper-class woman, and explicit references to sex and four-letter swear words. The book was banned for obscenity in the United States and #DHLawrenceIsOverParty was trending on Twitter.
The novel has been adapted several times for film, including in France in 1955 and 1981, and for the BBC in 1993 and 2015. This version will be directed by Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre (The Mustang), with a script from Life Of Pi writer David Magee.
Corrin’s casting makes total sense, as she if fresh off playing Princess Diana in Netflix’s The Crown. So she’s certainly familiar with playing a conflicted upper-class woman. She’s also got a supporting role in romantic drama My Policeman coming up, as the film just entered post-production.
O’Connell last film role was in Chad Hartigan‘s excellent romantic sci-fi drama Little Fish, and he’s currently starring in miniseries The North Water.
The Sony-Netflix deal was announced back in April. Not only will the deal allow Sony to offer Netflix a first look at any films it intends to make directly for streaming, as well as any other releases it may decide to license for streaming later on, but Netflix has also committed to making a number of the films offered over the course of the deal.
Sony will not distribute Lady Chatterley’s Lover, and the deal allows Netflix to run the film theatrically if they choose, for a chance to qualify for awards season. We’ll see what they decide to do. Not sure they’ll have as much trouble with the release of Lady Chatterley’s Lover as publisher Penguin Books did.
#Peace.Love.LadyChatterleysLover
