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WINTER’S TALE: Jessica Brown Findlay cast by Akiva Goldsman

Jessica Brown Findlay, Albatross

Jessica Brown Findlay cast in Winter’s Tale. Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman has cast Jessica Brown Findlay in his feature directorial debut in Winter’s Tale. Winter’s Tale is based on the 1983 novel of the same name written by Mark Helprin. Winter’s Tale‘s plot synopsis: “New York City is subsumed in arctic winds, dark nights, and white lights, its life unfolds, for it is an extraordinary hive of the imagination, the greatest house ever built, and nothing exists that can check its vitality.

One night in winter, Peter Lake—orphan and master-mechanic, attempts to rob a fortress-like mansion on the Upper West Side. Though he thinks the house is empty, the daughter of the house is home. Thus begins the love between Peter Lake, a middle-aged Irish burglar, and Beverly Penn, a young girl who is dying. Peter Lake, a simple, uneducated man who, because of a love which at first he does not fully understand, is driven to stop time and bring back the dead.”

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Jessica Brown Findlay will

be the woman at the center of the story, who falls in love with a thief who breaks into her mansion home…Beverly Penn, a young woman dying of consumption…Findlay got the role over quite a few other actresses (Bella Heathcote (In Time, Dark Shadows), Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene), Gabriele Wilde (Three Musketeers) and Sarah Gadon (David Cronenberg films A Dangerous Method and Cosmopolis)),…Aaron Johnson and Garrett Hedlund are the frontrunners to play the thief. Russell Crowe has a part in the film, as well (thanks to his association with Goldsman on A Beautiful Mind) and Will Smith is also rumored for a small part.

Crowe is playing Pearly Soames, leader of a criminal gang called the Short Tails. While Tom Hiddleston (Thor) and Benjamin Walker (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) were being tested to play the male lead, it looks like now the role might go to Hedlund or Johnson. The character is Peter Lake, an immigrant orphan who falls in with the Short Tails, but quickly falls out again, and spends much of the story attempting to elude Soames and his gang.

Warner Bros. Pictures originally gave Akiva Goldsman a $75 Million budget for Winter’s Tale but about $20 Million of the cost was cut. Shooting on Winter’s Tale will begin October 15, 2012 in New York.

Source: Slashfilm, Deadline

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Rollo Tomasi

Rollo Tomasi is a Connecticut-based film critic, TV show critic, news, and editorial writer. He will have a MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University in 2025. Rollo has written over 700 film, TV show, short film, Blu-ray, and 4K-Ultra reviews. His reviews are published in IMDb's External Reviews and in Google News. Previously you could find his work at Empire Movies, Blogcritics, and AltFilmGuide. Now you can find his work at FilmBook.
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