While Charlotte Rampling may have scuttled her Oscar chances because of her recent remarks about the diversity controversy in Hollywood (which she later clarified), the "45 Years" actress is soldiering on with a Jane Austen adaptation that is not "Sense And Sensibility," "Pride And Prejudice," "Mansfield Park," "Emma" or "Persuasion."
Screen Daily reports that Rampling will star in "Sanditon," an unfinished Austen novel that has never seen a big-screen version. Jim O’Hanlon, who directed a 2009 BBC TV version of "Emma," will be behind the camera of this Simon Reade ("Private Peaceful")-penned story that follows a young woman who summers at Sanditon, looking for love. Here’s the book synopsis:
Charlotte the Heywood, captivating heroine of Sanditon, is smart, beautiful, and in search of a husband. As in all of Austen’s novels, however, the road to matrimony is littered with obstacles: Charlotte must escape the clutches of an insufferable suitor, deal with the fortune-hunting schemes of the reigning local dowager, and outsmart a bevy of ambitious beauties who have set their sights on the charming Sidney Parker — and convince the fickle young man that he really loves her.
Over the years, a handful of writers have "finished" Austen’s book, of which she only completed 11 chapters before she passed away. Rampling will be playing Lady Denham, and production on the film will kick off this summer.