Italian director Luca Guadagnino (“Suspiria“) is a very busy fella with his cannibal film “Bones & All” on the horizon and a new tennis drama, “Challengers” in the works. The filmmaker has many irons in the fire, but it looks like one of them won’t be moving on into the production phase.
During a chat with IndieWire, the filmmaker gave updates on various projects in the works and revealed his series remake of “Brideshead Revisited” at BBC starring Andrew Garfield, Cate Blanchett, Ralph Fiennes, and Rooney Mara has been “shelved.” The reason for the project’s discontinuation wasn’t provided but given the high-profile cast, scheduling could have been a problem.
The Evelyn Waugh novel published in 1945 had been previously adapted as an ITV Studios television serial in 1981 starring Jeremy Irons, and there was the Julian Jarrold-directed feature film released in 2008. That film version had a stacked cast that featured Matthew Goode, Emma Thompson, Michael Gambon, Hayley Atwell, Ben Whishaw, and Felicity Jones.
“Brideshead Revisited” looks back to the golden age before the Second World War as it tells the story of Charles Ryder’s infatuation with the Marchmains and the rapidly-disappearing world of privilege they inhabit. Enchanted first by Sebastian at Oxford, then by his doomed Catholic family, in particular his remote sister, Julia, Charles comes finally to recognize only his spiritual and social distance from them.
Guadagnino also commented on other projects in development.
“Find Me,” the follow-up to “Call Me By Your Name” is obviously on hold due to the allegations against Armie Hammer. Guadagnino is still working on a biopic focused on the beloved actress Audrey Hepburn with Mara attached to star, and his new “Scarface” remake at Universal Pictures may get going soon.