Principal photography is now underway on The Secret Garden with Director Marc Munden presiding over a cast that includes Colin Firth and Julie Walters. The film reunites STUDIOCANAL and Heyday following their incredibly successful collaboration on PADDINGTON 1 & 2.
Based on the original book by novelist Frances Hodgson Burnett, the film tells the story of Mary Lennox (Dixie Egerickx), a prickly and unloved 10-year-old girl, born in India to wealthy British parents who never wanted her.
When her parents suddenly die, she is sent back to England to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven (Firth) on his remote country estate deep in the Yorkshire moors. There, she begins to uncover many family secrets, particularly when she meets her sickly cousin Colin (Edan Hayhurst), shut away in a wing of the house.
It is a story of two damaged, slightly misfit, children who heal each other – partly through their exposure to a wondrous secret garden, lost in the grounds of Misselthwaite Manor.
Walters will play Mrs Medlock, the head housekeeper at Misselthwaite. Amir Wilson joins the stellar cast as Dickon with Isis Davis as Martha.
Marc Munden said: “This is a fantastical reimagining of The Secret Garden: I can’t wait to explore it. It’s an opportunity to immerse ourselves in an uncanny and wondrous world, which will play to the imaginations of adults and children alike.”
David Heyman added “I’m delighted to be working again with STUDIOCANAL on The Secret Garden, brought so vividly to life by writer Jack Thorne.
“I’m excited that our director, Marc Munden, will be bringing his distinct imaginative vision to this enduring childhood story. And I could not be more thrilled that Colin Firth and Julie Walters have joined the journey, alongside a remarkable new trio of young actors.”
