Wasikowska, Fassbender Tapped for Remake of "Jane Eyre"

By our guest Blogger, Kristen Lopez

Book adaptations are nothing new in Hollywood as evidenced by the countless Jane Austen-based films and Oscar-winning fare like “Mystic River” based on the Dennis Lehane novel. In recent years, a few franchises like Harry Potter and Twilight have swept the world of cinema and engaged more teenagers in reading than ever before. But true literary hounds know classics never die and it seems movie houses are turning to the Bronte's for their next foray into classic literature.

Comingsoon.net is reporting that “Alice in Wonderland” star Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender of “Inglourious Basterds” are in negotiations to star in an adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's classic, "Jane Eyre." The novel follows a naive governess (Wasikowska) who falls in love with her employer Mr. Rochester (Fassbender) who “is harboring a dark secret.” The film is set to be helmed by “Sin Nombre” director Cary Fukunaga and reports say the film “will play up the Gothic elements of the story.”

Anyone whose gone through high school English has read "Jane Eyre" and knows about Rochester and said horrible secret. The movie sounds like dry literature perfect for a PBS or BBC miniseries, and it has been, but it would also be the right film for modern audiences. There's several film translations of this movie, one of the more notable with Samantha Morton in the role of Jane but hopefully this will allow the teens who are reading this, or those who enjoy costume dramas, to discover it.

Originally Jane was supposed to be played by "Juno" star Ellen Page, and thankfully she was let go, supposedly because there was bad reception to an American playing the iconic British governess. While Page is a fantastic actress, Jane has to have a certain naivete about her that the seasoned Page doesn't have. Audiences would expect her to be a worldly woman spouting witty one-liners and Jane was not like that by a long shot.

Waiskowska is a unique choice for this, as I've only seen a bit of her on the series “In Treatment” and watching the “Alice in Wonderland” trailers,. so it's still unknown about her range as an actress. It's good that studios are going with an unknown and a girl around the same age bracket as Jane. Fassbender is a superb choice for Rochester. It's a bit disheartening that he was let go from the big-budget adaptation of "Wuthering Heights," where he would have owned the role of Heathcliff, but if one has followed his career, it's clear that Fassbender would be more than able to pull off the surly, dark, Gothic, secretive Rochester. The only issue is the movie's plans to play up the “Gothic elements of the story about Jane...and Rochester.” Many adaptations have solely focused on their relationship, turning it into a Gothic romance when the novel is more a coming-of-age story that happens to have Jane finding love with an odd man. The book is lengthy, but hopefully the director won't cut out Jane's childhood and the events in between her time with Rochester. There's still a long way to go with this project but we'll be keeping an eye on any developments.