A big movie is being planned on the life of Lady Diana (Daily Mail)

Princess Diana is set to be played by a leading Hollywood actress in a £30million movie based on the years before her divorce from Prince Charles.

Oscar-winning South African actress Charlize Theron, 36, and Carey Mulligan, the 26-year-old English star of An Education, are both being tipped for the lead role.

British film producer Stephen Evans, who has scored success with The Iron Lady about former Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher, is basing the film on Diana's bodyguard's memoirs.

Evans said he wanted to show the world the truth behind what happened to Diana, who would have turned 51 this year, before her 1996 split from her husband.

It will be told partially from the point of view of Ken Wharfe, who could be played by Ewan McGregor, 40.

Wharfe was trusted to look after her sons Princes William and Harry, who called him 'Uncle Ken', and released a controversial book called 'Diana: Closely Guarded Secret' in 2007.

The acclaimed producer, who has been working with the late princess’s private secretary Commander Patrick Jephson on the film, would not reveal who is favourite to play the lead roles.

 

He said: 'It’s a slightly closed book until we get her. We are ¬looking at one or two relatively unknowns we think could play Diana well, and also one or two very famous people.

'How do you know when you’ve found the right person? When you’ve made the movie. You see, that’s the risk.'

His film could be the third Diana biopic to come out in the next two years.

Keira Knightley, 26, and Scarlett Johansson, 27, are rumoured to star in a Pathé film called Diana, while rising American actress Jessica Chastain, 30, is set to star in Caught in Flight.

That film will focus on Diana’s relationship with heart surgeon Hasnat Khan.

Evans told the Sunday Mirror that the film, due for release in 2013, deals with the 11 years of her life 'just after' she gave birth to Harry.


Read more:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2096741/Princess-Diana-movie-Hollywood-blockbuster-divorce-Charles.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Jessica Chastain To Play Princess Diana In Biopic From ‘Downfall’ Director Oliver Hirschbiegel

IndieWire

It was just over a year ago that it was revealed that two rival Princess Diana biopics were in the works. One, from producer Stephen Evans, was going to be based on the book “Diana: Closely Guarded Secret” by Diana’s lifelong bodyguard, Ken Wharfe. The film was budgeted at $30 million, with boasts of Charlize Theron and Ewan McGregor circling roles. Meanwhile, Pathé films was also developing a biopic with names like Keira Knightley and Dame Helen Mirren (as the Queen Mother) being tossed around. But it seems, a third project has now leapt into the pole position and it’s bringing along some surprising talent.

2011’s omnipresent Jessica Chastain will dye her hair and cut it short, taking the lead as Princess Diana in “Caught In Flight,” which is sure to be a highly controversial take on her life. Written by Steven Jeffreys (”The Libertine”), the film will focus on Diana’s affair with Dr. Hasnat Kahn that lasted from 1995 until a few months before her death in 1997. He was regarded by many to be the love of her life, and she was said to be devastated when the relationship was over, with some speculating that she dated Dodi Fayed in order to make him jealous. And indeed, the script “Caught In Flight” will apparently portray the Princess “as a damaged person who stalks the doctor after he ends the affair.”

No stranger to tough material, “Downfall” and “Das Experiment” director Oliver Hirschbiegel will direct the film which is already in pre-production. Lensing is gearing up to start in March, with shooting planned for Pakistan, Angola, the South of France and Paris for the film budgeted around $15 million.

It’s certainly a big gear change for Chastain, who will have to wear a British accent for the first time onscreen, in addition to undergoing a complete transformation into a public figure known and beloved by millions. With this picture, the sci-fi spectacle “Horizons” and the Guillermo Del Toro produced horror “Mama” on the way, Chastain refuses to be pigeonholed, with her upcoming roles among her most interesting yet. [Thompson On Hollywood]

Kevin Jagernauth posted to Actresses, Jessica Chastain, Directors, Foreign Directors, Oliver Hirschbiegel at 11:38 pm on November 6, 2011 | Permalink | Comments (2