According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix has acquired Mike Newell’s romantic drama The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, which stars Lily James (Baby Driver) and Michiel Huisman (HBO’s Game of Thrones). Also in the cast are Jessica Brown Findlay (Monster Family), Katherine Parkinson (TV’s Humans), and Matthew Goode (The Sense of an Ending). Netflix will stream Guernsey in North America, Latin America, Italy, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia. Studiocanal, who financed the period piece, will release the film on April 20th in the U.K., followed by Australia, New Zealand, France and Germany.
The movie is based on a 2008 best-selling novel by Annie Barros and Mary Ann Shaffer. The story is set in the aftermath of WWII and centers around journalist Juliet Ashton (James) who comes to learn about a book club formed on the English Channel island of Guernsey, off the coast of Normandy. The book club, called The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, was formed during the German occupation of World War II. Dawsey (Huisman) is a farmer on the island who starts off the communication with the journalist. Intrigued, Ashton writes letters back, eventually visiting the island villagers and deciding to write about the book club.
Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) helmed from a script by Don Roos, Tom Bezucha and Kevin Hood. Paula Mazur and Mitchell Kaplan from The Mazur/Kaplan Company and Blueprint Pictures’ Graham Broadbent and Pete Czernin produced.
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