Helen Mirren has been cast as acclaimed author Patricia Highsmith in the upcoming film, Switzerland. The plot for the crime drama will depict a fictional encounter the writer has with a persistent literary agent. The movie’s story will be similar to the Tom Ripley novels, the American novelist’s most famous work, Deadline is reporting.
Switzerland will follow Highsmith as she spends her later life in solitude in the Swiss Alps. Her serene existence is interrupted, however, by Edward, a young literary agent who’s sent by the scribe’s relentless publishing company to convince her to pen one last book in her wildly popular Ripley series.
The Ripley franchise includes the classic 1955 novel, The Talented Mr Ripley, which was adapted into the acclaimed 1999 film of the same name. The Oscar-nominated screen adaptation starred Matt Damon in the titular role, as well as Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Cate Blanchett and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Not wanting to give into her publisher, the reclusive Highsmith will use her famously macabre imagination to try to scare Edward away. However, before they know it, a collaboration ensues, which leaves the world they’ve constructed indistinguishable from their own.
Switzerland will be helmed by Dutch filmmaker and celebrated music video director, Anton Corbijn. It will be his first feature since the 2015 biographical drama, Life, which starred Robert Pattinson and Dane DeHaan.
The helmer’s other credits include the 2007 biopic, Control; the 2010 action thriller, The American; and the 2014 espionage thriller, A Most Wanted Man.
Switzerland will be produced by Gaby Tana (Philomena), Troy Lum (The Water Diviner) and Andrew Mason (The Water Diviner) for Brouhaha Entertainment and Jim Robison and Kurt Martin for Lunar Pictures. Casting for the movie’s supporting roles is currently underway.
The drama is set to shoot later this year in Europe. FilmNation will be launching the upcoming feature for world sales at next week’s EFM.
Switzerland‘s script was written by Melbourne based playwright, screenwriter and novelist Joanna Murray-Smith. She based the movie’s script on her play of the same name.
The drama’s producers told Deadline: “We were so taken by Joanna’s brilliant script and when we shared it with Anton Corbijn, he was immediately excited and shared our enthusiasm for this character-driven thriller.
“Anton has such a wonderful eye, and all of his films have powerful central performances, which makes him perfect for Switzerland, a story that is at its heart a thrilling sparring match between two beautifully drawn characters. We’re so excited to have the formidable Helen Mirren playing Patricia Highsmith: she will be perfect at encapsulating Highsmith’s icy threat and her blend of monstrosity and vulnerability.”
FilmNation Entertainment CEO Glen Basner also chimed in on the feature: “Patricia Highsmith and Tom Ripley are box office gold. We are thrilled to work again with the amazing Anton Corbjin and our friends at Brouhaha in this smart, thrilling and seductive film. Audiences will love seeing Helen Mirren bring Highsmith to life.”
Besides the Ripley novels, Highsmith, who’s referred to as the poet of apprehension, is best known for several other psychological thrillers. Those books include 1950’s Strangers on a Train, which was adapted for the screen by Alfred Hitchcock the following year, and starred Farley Granger and Robert Walker.
Highsmith is also known for her 1952 romance novel, The Price of Salt, which was adapted into the 2015 period romantic drama movie, Carol. The feature was directed by Oscar-nominated Far from Heaven filmmaker, Todd Haynes.
Mirren is set to star in Switzerland after she recently appeared in the second Yellowstsone prequel spinoff television series, 1923. She’ll next be seen in Barbie, Fast X and the biopic Golda, which will have its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.