13.10.2011
THE SCAPEGOAT
We’re delighted to announce that Island Pictures has gone into production on The Scapegoat, an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s 1957 novel. The feature film will premiere on ITV 1 in April 2012, followed by a worldwide theatrical distribution to be managed by Content Media Corporation.
ITV and Content Film, Content Television and Digital have provided financial backing for the film, a psychological thriller about a man who meets his perfect double and takes over his life. When John, a single, lonely academic meets his rich doppelganger Johnny Spence, his life changes forever. Manoeuvred into changing places with Johnny, John finds himself living the high-life in the ‘big house’, complete with wife and family. But Johnny’s life is more complex and troubled than John could have imagined – the relationships are fraught and often illicit, and Johnny’s finances are in desperate crisis. Everyone’s looking to Johnny to save the day, but only John knows that Johnny is not here. Or is he? As John lifts the lid on more and more of his counterpart’s unedifying life, the man himself returns… with murder in mind.
The film stars Hollywood actor Matthew Rhys, best known for his role as Kevin Walker in long-running US drama Brothers and Sisters, and Eileen Atkins (Cranford, Gosford Park, Cold Mountain. The screenplay has been written by Charles Sturridge, who will also direct the film. A highly-acclaimed British film and television director, Sturridge directed and co-wrote the world-famous version of Brideshead Revisited, and over the past 30 years he has written and directed a string of award winning productions including Shackleton, A Handful of Dust and The Road To Coronation Street.
The film will shoot on location in London in November 2011. It will be produced by Sarah Beardsall (casting: The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Parent Trap) and Dominic Minghella (Robin Hood, Doc Martin).
Publicity – Franklin Rae: +44 20 7490 4050 – ITV: +44 161 952 6220 – International distribution: Content Film +1 310 576 1059
