Joe Wright's Anna Karenina

[Sgt.Pepper]

Joe Wright (Atonement & Pride and Prejudice) is set to direct a new adaption of Leo Tolstoy’s classic tragic love story Anna Karenina.
Oscar-winning screenwriter Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love) is working on the script.
Keira Knightley is set to play the title character and Jude Law and Aaron Johnson are in talks to join the project.

For those who haven't read the book, the plot is described as follows:

Anna Karenina tells of the doomed love affair between the sensuous and rebellious Anna and the dashing officer, Count Vronsky. Tragedy unfolds as Anna rejects her passionless marriage and must endure the hypocrisies of society. Set against a vast and richly textured canvas of nineteenth-century Russia, the novel's seven major characters create a dynamic imbalance, playing out the contrasts of city and country life and all the variations on love and family happiness.

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I have read the book and I'm very much interested to see this new take on the classic book.

 

[Crockett]

Pretty cool that Stoppard is working on the script, I do hope this is Wright's next project. I've read a little from the book but it's not something I'm willing to tackle right now.

 

[Sgt.Pepper]

Jude Law, Aaron Johnson, Kelly Macdonald and Benedict Cumberbatch is confirmed to join the cast of 'Anna Karenina'

We caught up with the director this week to chat about “Hanna” and we couldn’t help but ask about “Anna Karenina” and the always forthwright helmer confirmed some of the names above, but tossed in a couple of new ones and revealed that he’s waiting to hear back from Ronan and McAvoy.

“Keira’s confirmed, Jude Law’s confirmed, Aaron Johnson’s confirmed, Kelly Macdonald‘s confirmed, Benedict Cumberbatch is confirmed. I’m still waiting on Saoirse and James,” Wright said to us.

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Wright is bringing together an outstanding cast.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Keira Knightley and Joe Wright. This is going to be good.

 

[Crockett]

It's wonderful that Benedict Cumberbatch, Aaron Johnson and Kelly Macdonald is joining the cast.

Now I'm really anxious to read the book.

 

[Red Mask]

It's the type of role actresses like Kiera Knightley and Kate Beckinsale dream about. I hope it turns out great!

 

[KenK]

Maybe he'll stop directing action movies.

 

[Project862006]

with 86% on RT for Hanna i think not

 

[Red Mask]

Does anybody here even appreciate the beauty of Russian literature?

Seriously, if Dark Knight Rises is like the first two movies I'm hoping the Bolsheviks take over Gotham in the end. Seriously!

 

[Sgt.Pepper]

Andrea Riseborough, Matthew Macfadyen & Olivia Williams Joining 'Anna Karenina'

Matthew Macfadyen has the part of Oblonsky. Olivia Williams will play Countess Vronskaya. The fast-rising Andrea Riseborough has been cast as Princess Betsy. Domhnall Gleeson — Bill Weasley in the Harry Potter movies — has been cast as Levin.

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Too bad Benedict Cumberbatch won't able to do Anna Karenina due to commitments to another project. Anyway last we heard, Wright was waiting for Saoirse Ronan and James McAvoy to join the project and while I think McAvoy has moved on, Ronan was mentioned in the article as part of the cast. So I assumed she joined the project.


If anyone is interested to know which characters the actors will be playing, I'll include it in a spoiler tag (but I won't spoil anything, I'll only named the characters) because I don't want to make this post messy.

Spoiler

Keira Knightley as Anna Karenina, the main character.
Jude Law as Alexei Alexandrovich Karenina, Anna's husband.
Aaron Johnson as Vronsky, lover of Anna.
Matthew Macfadyen as Oblonsky also known as Stiva, Anna's brother.
Kelly Macdonald as Dolly, Oblonsky's wife.
Saoirse Ronan as Kitty, Dolly’s younger sister.
Andrea Riseborough as Besty, Anna's friend and cousin of Vronsky.
Olivia Williams as Countess Vronskaya, Vronsky's mother.
Domhnall Gleeson as Levin, old friend of Stiva.

 

[Crockett]

A solid cast that Wright manages to round up, can't wait too see what'll come out of it.

And they're filming around this fall, that's good.

 

[Sgt.Pepper]

Anna Karenina Starts Principal Photography; New Cast Members Added

Joe Wright will direct the epic romance Anna Karenina, adapted from Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel by Academy Award winner Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love). The Working Title Films production will commence filming in the U.K. and Russia this month. Focus Features will distribute the movie domestically, and Universal Pictures International (UPI) will distribute the movie internationally, in the second half of 2012.

Anna Karenina marks Mr. Wright’s third Working Title movie with Focus and UPI, following the award-winning boxoffice successes Pride & Prejudice and Atonement. Also for Working Title and UPI, he directed The Soloist; also for Focus, he most recently directed the hit adventure thriller Hanna.

Keira Knightley, Academy Award-nominated for Pride & Prejudice, will star as Anna Karenina in her third collaboration with Mr. Wright. Ms. Knightley will be starring opposite two-time Academy Award nominee Jude Law, as Anna’s husband Aleksei Karenin; and Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy), as Count Vronsky. Rounding out the cast will be Kelly Macdonald (Boardwalk Empire), Matthew Macfadyen (Pride & Prejudice), Domhnall Gleeson (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), Alicia Vikander (The Seventh Son), two-time Academy Award nominee Emily Watson, Olivia Williams (Hanna), and Ruth Wilson (Luther).

Also reteaming with Mr. Wright on Anna Karenina are Academy Award-winning composer Dario Marianelli, twice-Academy Award-nominated costume designer Jacqueline Durran, and three-time Academy Award-nominated production designer Sarah Greenwood. The cinematographer will be Academy Award winner Philippe Rousselot. Melanie Ann Oliver (Focus’ Jane Eyre) will edit the feature. Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui will be the choreographer on the movie.

The story unfolds in its original late-19th-century Russia high-society setting and powerfully explores the capacity for love that surges through the human heart, from the passion between adulterers to the bond between a mother and her children. As Anna (Ms. Knightley) questions her happiness, change comes to her family, friends, and community.

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The new actors that joined Anna Karenina is Ruth Wilson, Emily Watson, Domhnall Gleeson and Alicia Vikander. Andrea Riseborough, who was previously attached to a role, is out of the production.

Anna Karenina is aiming for a late 2012 release date.

The novel is quite difficult to adapt, but with Wright, Stoppard and the fantastic cast, all involved on the project; makes me really excited to see the result.

 

[Crockett]

Such a fantastic cast, I'd love if Cumberbatch and McAvoy was still onboard and also snatching up Saoirse Ronan but nevertheless I'm still excited to see this.

 

[Laderlappen]

The cast is amazing. So you know Alicia Vikander is Noomi Rapace 2.0.

 

[Sgt.Pepper]

I haven't hear of Alicia Vikander until she landed a role in The Seventh Son (even though, I've seen a few episodes of Andra Avenyn ). Regardless, she's definitely one of the up and coming actors on the verge of a breakout, and with Anna Karenina and The Seventh Son on her plate, I'm sure she'll soon be on people's radar.

 

[CaptainCanada]

I'm glad Marianelli is back to compose. His work on Atonement well-deserved that Oscar.

 

[Ultra Lantern]

This looks really good.I'll see it when it comes to theaters.

 

[Sgt.Pepper]

First Look:

Hopefully there's a better version of these images, but I'm just glad to finally see some pics. Anyway, they looked great as the characters, not exactly how I imagined but still great.

What I'm most interested to see about this film is Wright's experimental and bold approach to the story. They filmed the majority of the film on a single location. Again, I'm very interested to see how that works out.

 

[Brian2887]

Wow. I had no idea Wright was taking such a strange approach. That amps my expectations for this movie to 11.

 

[Crockett]

Interesting with this theatrical approach that Wright is taking, it's quite similar to what von Trier did with Dogville and Manderlay. By the way Jude Law looks great but Aaron Johnson is going to take some time to get used to.

 

[Silvermoth]

Hmm, I know this is pretty shallow of me but I thought Aaron would be hotter.

Everything else looks amazing though. I love the idea of Keira as Anna. I can't wait to see this!

 

[Crockett]

Another part of the scans:

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I heart Joe Wright and his working relationship with Keira Knightley.

 

[Laderlappen]

I was too early when I called the cast amazing. Aaron Johnson is one of my least favorite, if not my least favorite famous actor at the moment. However I love Keira Knightley and will see anything with her in it. Also a fan of Joe Wright and their collaborations so far has been more than great.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Aaron Johnson looks like Nic Cage form Raising Arizona. Hell, I thought that was Cage for a second.