Helena Bonham Carter Joins Anthony Hopkins in "The Housekeeper" Movie

“The Housekeeper,” the evocative romance that fictionalises the inspiration behind Daphne du Maurier’s “Rebecca”, first announced in 2024, is gearing up to begin production.

BAFTA winner and Oscar nominee Helena Bonham Carter (“The Crown,” “One Life”), BAFTA and Golden Globe nominee Caitríona Balfe (“Belfast,” “Ford v Ferrari”), and fast-rising star Emma Laird (“The Brutalist,” “28 Years Later”) have joined show alongside two-time Oscar winner Anthony Hopkin (“The Father,” “The Silence of the Lambs”).

Previously attached stars Uma Thurman and Phoebe Dynevor are no longer attached to the production.

Directed by multi-award-winning filmmaker Sir Richard Eyre (“The Children Act,” “Notes on a Scandal,” “Iris”) and written by acclaimed bestselling author Dame Rose Tremain, “The Housekeeper” is based on her own short story and forthcoming novel scheduled to be published by Penguin Random House UK and Harper Collins US in the fall of 2026.

Eyre directs from a script by bestselling author Rose Tremain, based on her own short story and forthcoming novel, with Julia Taylor-Stanley (Coriolanus) and Kevin Loader (The Death Of Stalin) producing.

Set in 1930s Cornwall, UK, “The Housekeeper” is set in the mystic, brooding and wild landscape of Cornwall, the rugged Atlantic foot of England, where the forbidden romance blossoms between a Polish housekeeper and a famous novelist.

“Rose Tremain’s story grapples with love, fear, fiction, desire, ambition, death and legacy — perhaps epic, whilst providing us with the delicacy of most complex, nuanced characters and unexpected shifts in audience sympathy,” Eyre previously said in a statement. “The cast and I hold in our palm a story as rich and turbulent as the landscape that it inhabits, with Manderville Hall holding secrets and emotional intrigue within its historic walls.

Producers on the film are Julia Taylor-Stanley for Artemis Films, Kevin Loader for Embankment, and Herbert L. Kloiber for Night Train Media. Night Train Media has boarded the project as producer and principal financier.

The Munich and London-based company will oversee global exploitation working with Embankment Films, who handle global sales. Additional finance was provided by Head Gear Films, M2 Mediapost, FireFrame Studios and Screen Cornwall.

Executive producers are Phil Hunt and Compton Ross for Head Gear Films, and James Copp for Night Train Media.