Emma Thompson wins Effie lawsuit Film about love triangle between John Ruskin, Effie Gray and John Everett Millais to go ahead after US court clears Thompson of plagiarism (GUARDIAN)

Ben Child

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 19 December 2012 11.44 EST

Green light … Emma Thompson's period drama Effie is set for a May release. Photograph: Juan Naharro Gimenez/WireImage

Emma Thompson has won a landmark US ruling allowing her to move forward with her forthcoming period drama Effie, about the famous love triangle between art critic John Ruskin, his teenage wife Effie Gray and pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais.

Thompson had been accused of plagiarism by the American writer Eve Pomerance, author of two unfilmed screenplays about the Victorian scandal titled The King of the Golden River and The Secret Trials of Effie Gray. The timing of the ruling in the Oscar-winning actor's favour could not be more vital, since Effie is due for release in May, with Thompson herself joining Dakota Fanning, Orlando Bloom and Robbie Coltrane in the cast.

New York district judge J Paul Oetken noted the difficulty of determining copyright infringement in the historical fiction realm where US laws did not protect repetition of known historical facts, only the purloining of imaginative ideas relating to them. In a 61-page ruling, he granted Thompson's production company Effie Film a declaration of non-infringement, the British writer having sued following threats of litigation from Pomerance.

READ MORE: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/dec/19/emma-thompson-wins-effie-lawsuit

Emma Thompson and her lookalike daughter Gaia step out in matching outfits... and they've even got the same haircut By EMILY SHERIDAN PUBLISHED: 06:06 EST, 17 May 2012 | UPDATED: 08:04 EST, 17 May 2012 MAIL ON LINE

The film title may be Men In Black III, but Emma Thompson decided to look at the opposite end of the spectrum when it came to dressing her and her daughter.

The actress, 53, and her daughter Gaia, 12, made a rare red carpet appearance together at the former's latest film premiere.

And as if their similar features weren't enough to let onlookers know they were mother and daughter, the pair were dressing in similar clothing and even had matching haircuts.


Arriving at the Leicester Square screening last night, the Oscar winner was wearing a pristine white Maria Grachvogel trouser suit, while Gaia complemented her mother in a white Zara shift dress and matching pashmina.

Thompson and her husband Greg Wise rarely bring their daughter to public events.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2145745/Emma-Thompson-shows-lookalike-daughter-Gaia-Men-In-Black-III-premiere.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Keira Knightley negotiating to play artist's muse Effie Gray in new romantic drama 'Untouched'

HitFix

Would become second actress to portray noted historical figure in recent months

By HitFix Staff Monday, Nov 7, 2011 7:29 PM

Keira Knightley arrives at the BFI London Film Festival screening of 'A Dangerous Method'

Credit: AP Photo/Jonathan Short

If there's one thing you can always count on in the world of movies, it's that Keira Knightley will headline a new costume drama at least once every two years. Indeed, following on the heels of the announcement that she would be starring as the title character in Joe Wright's (currently-filming) adaptation of the classic Leo Tolstoy novel "Anna Karenina", she is now said to be in talks to play Effie Gray, the famed 19th-century muse of pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais. The film is being directed by Brazilian helmer Andrucha Waddington ("House of Sand") from a script by Aleksandra Crapanzano.

Gray married leading English art critic John Ruskin as a teenager, though their relationship remained unconsummated; she later fell in love with Millais, his protege, and ultimately procured an annulment from Ruskin in order to marry him. The film will reportedly focus on the early stages of Gray and Millais' love affair.

The project is currently being pre-sold at the American Film Market by sales agent Ealing Metro International.

As noted by Indiewire's Thompson on Hollywood, which broke the story, another Effie Gray biopic written by Emma Thompson and her husband Greg Wise was being sold at the market last year; that film recently went into production with Dakota Fanning starring as Gray (while Wise co-stars as Ruskin and Thompson appears as Gray's confidante, Lady Elizabeth Eastlake). It will be interesting to see how things pan out between the competing projects, though it seems odd for two films on such a relatively obscure historical figure to be coming together at the same time.

Related Searches:Untouched, Keira Knightley, Dakota Fanning, Emma Thompson, Greg Wise, Effie, Effie