STXfilms and Studiocanal has announced that director Marc Munden’s forthcoming film adaptation of The Secret Garden is officially foregoing its previously scheduled theatrical release and has opted for a digital release instead. Originally set to hit the theaters in April, the film will now be making its debut on Friday, August 7 on PVOD at the suggested retail price of $19.99.
Unlock your imagination. #TheSecretGarden will be available at home on demand everywhere August 7. pic.twitter.com/mn2YzbylDU
— The Secret Garden (@TheSecretGarden) June 19, 2020
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Set in England, The Secret Garden tells the story of Mary Lennox, a prickly and unloved 10-year-old girl, born in India to wealthy British parents who never wanted her. When her parents suddenly die, she is sent back to England to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven on his remote country estate deep in the Yorkshire moors. There, she begins to uncover many family secrets, particularly when she meets her sickly cousin Colin (Edan Hayhurst), shut away in a wing of the house. It is a story of two damaged, slightly misfit, children who heal each other – partly through their exposure to a wondrous secret garden, lost in the grounds of Misselthwaite Manor.
The film stars Dixie Egerickx (The Little Stranger) as Mary Lennox and Colin Firth (The King’s Speech) as Archibald Craven along with Oscar nominated and BAFTA-winning Julie Walters (Paddington 1 & 2) as Mrs Medlock, the head housekeeper at Misselthwaite. Amir Wilson (The Kid Who Would Be King) and Isis Davis (Guilt, Electric Dreams) will also part of the film, portraying roles of Dickon and Martha, respectively.
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The film will be directed by Marc Munden (Utopia, The Mark of Cain, The Devil’s Whore). He is most known for his incredible work on TV and for creating brilliantly authored, highly visual worlds for viewers to experience. The Secret Garden movie was adapted by screenwriter Jack Thorne (Shameless) and has reset the adaptatation in a slightly later period, removing it from the Edwardian era to 1947, on the eve of Partition in India, and in the aftermath of WW2 in Britain.
David Heyman (Harry Potter, Gravity) and Rose Alison (Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Testament of Youth) will be producing. Jane Robertson (Danish Girl, Breathe) will co-produce. Didier Lupfer, Danny Perkins, and Dan MacRae will executive produce for StudioCanal. The Secret Garden reunites StudioCanal and Heyday following their successful collaboration on Paddington 1 & 2.
