Nearly two years ago we reported that Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie would be reuniting for the animated Oscar Wilde adaptation, The Canterville Ghost. Today, in addition to the announcement of the rest of the cast, we have the first poster for the film, which is currently in pre-production. Joining the Kim Burdon-directed tale will be Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake), Freddie Highmore (Bates Motel), Miranda Hart (Call the Midwfie), and Toby Jones (Captain America: The Winter Soldier). Fry voices the title character, a deceased English noble whose ghost has successfully turned away every potential tenant over the last 300 years, but may have met his match with the American Otis family. There are no details as to who the new cast members will be playing, but we should hear more once the picture starts to be shopped during the Cannes Film Festival.
Hit the jump for more details and the first look at The Canterville Ghost poster.
Check out the full details for The Canterville Ghost in the following press release:
IMELDA STAUNTON, FREDDIE HIGHMORE, MIRANDA HART, AND TOBY JONES ROUND OUT CAST OF ‘OSCAR WILDE’S THE CANTERVILLE GHOST’STARRING STEPHEN FRY AND HUGH LAURIE
Content to Handle Worldwide Sales for the Oscar Wilde Animated Adaptation at Cannes
Los Angeles, May 9, 2014 - Content announced today that Academy Award® nominee Imelda Staunton (MALEFICENT, VERA DRAKE), Freddie Highmore (BATES MOTEL, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY), Miranda Hart (MIRANDA, CALL THE MIDWIFE), and Toby Jones (CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, THE HUNGER GAMES) have joined the voice cast of Kim Burdon's Oscar Wilde’s THE CANTERVILLE GHOST featuring two-time Golden Globe winner Hugh Laurie (HOUSE MD) and Golden Globe nominee Stephen Fry (THE HOBBIT PARTS 2 and 3, SHERLOCK HOLMES: GAME OF SHADOWS). Giles New and Keiron Self are adapting the classic Oscar Wilde story. The animated film is produced by Robert Chandler and Gina Carter. Content will be handling worldwide sales starting at the Cannes market this month.
Currently in pre-production, the animated comedy follows the story of Sir Simon de Canterville who has been haunting his ancestral home in rural England, Canterville Chase, for over three hundred years. He has successfully scared off every previous tenant with ease and aplomb, up until the Otis family from America moves in.
Stephen Fry, who stars as the famous ghost, remarked “I’m excited as a little child to be playing in Oscar Wilde's hilarious and touching ghost-story/romance/comedy - especially as it will mean working again with Hugh Laurie after all these years. The standard and style of the animation will be astounding and the voice talent unmatched in what I am certain will be, the cliché is unavoidable, an unmissable experience for all the family."
Content's Jamie Carmichael said, “Take one bone rattling CANTERVILLE GHOST, add a dollop of Fry, a slice of Laurie and the result is pure, perfect, hilarious magic. Robert, Gina and Kim have created an extraordinarily wonderful world and Content is thrilled to be a part of it.”
Producers Robert Chandler and Gina Carter commented, “The Canterville Ghost has been made as a live-action feature over the years with such actors as Sir John Gielgud, Charles Laughton and David Niven playing the famous ghost, but it has never been made as an animated movie. The animation allows us to emphasize the comedy and the epic qualities of Sir Simon’s journey. The hauntings will be magnificently visual; the humor laugh-out-loud; the love story at its centre deeply moving.”
At the Marché in Cannes, Content will also be handling worldwide rights to Academy Award® Winner Mike van Diem's THE SURPRISE, Academy Award® Nominated Amy Berg's Janis Joplin documentary JANIS: LITTLE GIRL BLUE, and Alistair Legrand's intense horror THE DIABOLICAL starring Ali Larter.
The Content sales slate also includes: JIMI: ALL IS BY MY SIDE directed by Academy Award® Winner John Ridley and starring Andre Benjamin which premiered in Toronto; the family adventure PUDSEY: THE MOVIE, the supernatural horror DARK SUMMER directed by Paul Solet, the medieval actioner IRONCLAD 2: BATTLE FOR BLOOD; the Steve McQueen documentary THE MAN & LE MANS; Dan Bush's supernatural heist thriller THE TRUST; and Caradog James’ psychologically terrifying DON’T KNOCK TWICE.
Imelda Staunton, Freddie Highmore and Toby Jones are represented by Artist Rights Group (A.R.G), Miranda Hart is represented by Troika.