2011 Upcoming Movie Adaptations

There are a couple of highly anticipated movie adaptations of popular novels coming out in 2011, one new bestseller and a classic. Sporting all-star casts, they promise to be some of the most talked-about films of the coming year.

Jane Eyre

Leaving behind a cheerless childhood, Jane Eyre finds employment at Thornfield Hall as a governess for wealthy Mr. Rochester’s ward. Settling into her new life in this dreary setting, Miss Eyre finds herself falling for Rochester. Happiness seems right around the corner for Jane, but soon she uncovers a secret that jeopardizes her future at Thornfield.

The newest adaptation of this beloved classic will emphasize the gothic elements of the story and will star Mia Wasikowska (of Alice in Wonderland fame) as Jane Eyre, Michael Fassbender as Edward Rochester, Imogen Poots (Miss Austen Regrets) as Blanche Ingram, Dame Judi Dench as Mrs. Fairfax, and Sally Hawkins, who starred as Anne Elliot in the 2007 version of Persuasion, as Mrs. Reed. Michael O’Connor is designing the costumes for the project. Previously O’Connor has designed costumes for titles including Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and The Dutchess. Cary Fakunaga will be directing.

Jane Eyre is set to be released on March 11 in the United States.

The Help

Twenty-two year old Skeeter Phelan has just returned home to Jackson, Mississippi after graduating form Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but her mother won’t be happy until she has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally normally seek solace with her beloved maid, Constantine, but she has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone. Aibileen is a middle-aged black maid raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside of her after the death of her own son. She is devoted to the little girl she is now caring for, though she knows that both their hearts may be broken. Minny, Aibileen’s best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody’s business, but she can’t mind her tongue, so she’s lost yet another job. Minny finds a position working for a woman too new to town to know her reputation, but this new employer has secrets of her own. Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these three women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk.

Based on the bestselling novel by Kathryn Stockett, The Help will star Emma Stone as Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan, Viola Davis as Aibileen Clark, Octavia Spencer as Minny Jackson, Bryce Dallas Howard as Hilly Holbrook, Ahna O’Reilly as Elizabeth Leefolt, Jessica Chastain as Celia Foote, Mike Vogel as Johnny Foote, Chris Lowell as Stuart Whitworth, and Cicely Tyson as Constantine Jefferson. Sharen Davis will be in charge of costume design. She has an impressive resume in this area, having previously been the costume director for hits such as The Book of Eli, Seven Pounds, The Pursuit of Happiness, Dreamgirls, and Akeelah and the Bee. Tate Taylor will be directing.

The Help will be released in the US on an undisclosed date in 2011.