Bleecker Street Films has acquired U.S. rights to Mr. Malcolm’s List, a romantic comedy feature set in the Regency era of 1810s-1820s, according to Variety. The starring cast of the period piece includes Freida Pinto, Constance Wu, Sope Dirisu, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, and Sam Heughan.

Mr Malcolm’s List marks the big feature directing debut of Emma Holly Jones. She previously made a short film with the same plot and characters of Mr. Malcolm’s List, with Gemma Chan in the main role.

The film is centered around Julia (Wu), a socialite of the time suddenly rejected by London’s most eligible bachelor Mr. Malcolm (Dirisu), when she fails to meet one of the items on his list of requirements for a bride. Feeling shunned and humiliated, she brings her friend Selina (Pinto) to help her take revenge on Mr. Malcolm by tricking him into thinking he has found his perfect match. The plan appears to be working when Henry (Heughan) threatens Julia’s scheme by courting Selina for himself. Their scheme continues to upend by the bumbling Lord Cassidy (Jackson-Cohen) who meddles with the plan.

Mr. Malcolm’s List is an adaptation of a novel with the same title written by Suzanne Allain, who will also pen the screenplay. Allain’s script was highly ranked on The Black List, the entertainment industry website that tracks the best un-produced screenplays.

The project is expected to start production next spring in Ireland with a theatrical release set for 2022. The novel will be published globally by Berkley Press later this month. The film project was initially presented to buyers during the recent Cannes Film Festival virtual market.

In light of Bleecker Street’s acquisition, Holly Jones stated: “I’m thrilled to have the support of Bleecker Street for a movie like this, especially now. It all feels like a dream of mine to be making a film with such an extraordinary cast and truly collaborative partners.”

Andrew Karpen, CEO of Bleecker Street, announced: “Emma has built upon the brilliance of her short film to create a period romance for all ages. We are proud to be part of the team to bring her feature to life and look forward to releasing it in 2022.”

Bleecker Street is the distributor of indie films like Kitty Green’s The Assistant, Military Wives with Kristin Scott Thomas, Hotel Mumbai with Dev Patel, and Colette with Keira Knightley.