One Day Begins Production in London

Production has begun on One Day, the feature film version of the internationally praised novel of the same name by David Nicholls, which this month enters The New York Times bestseller list. Academy Award nominee Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess star in the movie. One Day is a co-production in the unique partnership of Random House Inc.'s Random House Films division and Focus Features. The U.K.'s Film4 is co-financing.

Mr. Nicholls has adapted his book into the screenplay for One Day, which Focus will release theatrically in the third quarter of 2011. Focus holds worldwide rights - excluding U.K. free-TV, to be held by Film4 - to the movie version. Filming is taking place on location in the U.K., as well as in Scotland and France.

Ms. Hathaway and Mr. Sturgess are joined by a supporting cast that includes Romola Garai (of Focus' Atonement), Jamie Sives (Get Him to the Greek), Rafe Spall (Hot Fuzz), Ken Stott (Charlie Wilson's War), and Jodie Whittaker (Film4's Venus).

One Day is being directed by Lone Scherfig, who most recently helmed the Best Picture Academy Award nominee An Education. Nina Jacobson (the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies) is producing One Day, and Tessa Ross, controller, Film4 & Channel 4 drama, is executive-producing. Jane Frazer (Focus' Pride & Prejudice) is co-producer.

Focus senior vice president, European production Teresa Moneo is supervising One Day with Focus director of production Matthew Plouffe for Focus president of production John Lyons. The film is also be supervised by Claudia Herr, executive story editor, for Random House Films president Peter Gethers.

The One Day crew includes cinematographer Benoît Delhomme (The Proposition), costume designer Odile Dicks-Mireaux and film editor Barney Pilling (both of An Education), hair and make-up designer Ivana Primorac (Focus' upcoming Hanna), and production designer Mark Tildesley (Focus' Pirate Radio).

The story charts an extraordinary relationship. Emma (played by Ms. Hathaway) and Dexter (Mr. Sturgess) meet on the night of their college graduation - July 15th, 1988. She is a working-class girl of principle and ambition who dreams of making the world a better place. He is a wealthy charmer who dreams that the world will be his playground. For the next two decades, every July 15th reveals to us how "Em" and "Dex" are faring, as their friendship ebbs and flows with the passing of the years. Through laughter and romance, heartbreak and exhilaration, they experience the grandeur of life. Somewhere along their journey, these two people realize that what they are searching and hoping for has been there for them all along.

One Day comes to theaters in 2011 and stars Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess, Romola Garai, Jamie Sives, Rafe Spall, Ken Stott, Jodie Whittaker. The film is directed by Lone Scherfig.

• Share
• The film stars Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess.