Having ticked off Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and F. Scott Fitzgerald from her period adaptations to-do list, Carey Mulligan's latest literary endeavour springs from the pen of Thomas Hardy. Far From The Madding Crowd filmed in Oxfordshire late last year, and following a handful of stills, the first trailer has just been released.
This version sees Thomas Vinterberg (Festen, The Hunt) joining the likes of Ang Lee and Cary Fukunaga in casting an international eye over a classic of English literature. In cahoots with cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen, he's clearly making the most of the cinematic potential inherent in Hardy's rolling Wessex countryside.
The story, should you be unfamiliar, centres on Mulligan's Bathsheba Everdene (yup, that's where Katniss got her name from), the beautiful, headstrong and independent woman who turns the heads of three different suitors, with varying consequences. Matthias Schoenaerts plays the earthy Gabriel Oak; Tom Sturridge is the dashing Sergeant Troy; and Michael Sheen bears the burden of the unfortunate William Boldwood.
If you're wondering about the song Mulligan sings over the promo, it's a traditional number variously known as The Bunch Of Thyme, Sprig O'Thyme, Let No Man Steal Your Thyme and variations thereof. Its relevance to the film (other than its appropriate lyrics) is that it was used in the famous previous version directed in 1967 by John Schlesinger starring Julie Christie and Terence Stamp. On that occasion it was performed by Trevor Lucas.
David Nicholls (One Day, Great Expectations) wrote the screenplay this time, and Far From The Madding Crowd is out in the UK on May 1 next year.