Outlander and Harry Potter favourites confirmed for "dark and surprising" adaptation of yet-to-be-released novel
Anthony Hopkins had previously been announced for the cast of Daphne du Maurier-inspired film The Housekeeper.
Outlander's Caitriona Balfe and Harry Potter star Helena Bonham Carter have been confirmed to star in upcoming film The Housekeeper – which will tell a fictionalised account of the inspiration behind Daphne du Maurier's iconic novel Rebecca.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple and The Brutalist actress Emma Laird has also joined the cast, which already included screen legend Anthony Hopkins, with production on the project set to commence next week.
The film had first been announced back in 2024, with Uma Thurman and Bridgerton's Sophie Dyevenor previously attached, but that duo will no longer be part of the cast.
It has been adapted by Rose Tremain from her yet-to-be-published novel of the same name, with veteran director Richard Eyre (Iris, The Children Act) helming the project.
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In a statement, Eyre described the screenplay as "dark and surprising and mysterious" and added that "we look forward to making a film which lives up to its promise".
The official synopsis reads: "Set against the wild, brooding landscape of Cornwall, the story centres on Danni (Balfe), the housekeeper at Manderville Hall, a grand historic house owned by the wealthy and widowed Lord Grenville-Whithers (Hopkins).
"When the young writer Daphne du Maurier (Laird) arrives, Danni is drawn into a clandestine and intoxicating affair. For one, it is an all-consuming love; for the other, an awakening of long-suppressed desires.
"Their fragile secret threatens to unravel under the watchful gaze of Adelaide (Bonham Carter), Lord Grenville-Whithers's calculating niece."
Of course, Du Maurier's work has been notably adapted for the big screen on countless occasions: Alfred Hitchcock's 1940 version of Rebecca won Best Picture at the Oscars, while Ben Wheatley made his own version of the gothic classic in 2020 starring Lily James and Armie Hammer.
Hitchcock's films Jamaica Inn and The Birds were also adapted from Du Maurier texts, as was Nicolas Roeg's 1973 horror classic Don't Look Now.
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
