Colin on "Dorian Gray":

“The story is just so irresistible, isn’t it?” Firth muses. “I was shocked by how many film and television

versions there have been, so people clearly feel compelled to dramatize the issues at its heart. I wanted to

in the movie after reading Toby’s script, because my character, Lord Henry, actually has an arc to play,

whereas the book contains no journey or conflict. The ‘sins of the father’ aspect coming home to roost regarding

his daughter was something I could sink my teeth into, not just standing

around pretty period sets spouting famous Wilde lines.”

Summary:

Colin Firth has signed on to star opposite Ben Barnes in "Dorian Gray," the retelling of the Oscar Wilde classic being directed by Oliver Parker.

Based on "The Picture of Dorian Gray," the story centers on Gray (Barnes), a young man who becomes the subject of a painting. As the man descends into a hedonistic lifestyle, the portrait begins to age and morph, but he doesn't.

Firth will play Lord Henry Wotton, the aristocrat who corrupts Gray with his worldview. (He is sometimes called Harry in the novel.)

Ealing Studios is behind the adaptation, which is being produced by Barnaby Thompson. At May's Festival de Cannes, Thompson said Parker plans to make a visceral, dark horror story and said the themes of stardom are as relevant as ever.

The movie began shooting first week of August 2008.

Firth stars in the hit musical "Mamma Mia!" and next appears in Michael Winterbottom's "Genova" and Ealing Studios' "Easy Virtue," both of which will screen at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Firth, repped by CAA, also has wrapped Robert Zemeckis' motion-capture "A Christmas Carol" opposite Jim Carrey and Gary Oldman.

Dorian Gray is an Ealing Studios presentation of a Fragile Film backed by Prescience, Aramid and the U.K. Film Council.

Pic will be released in Blighty in fall 2009 via Momentum Pictures. International sales, which have already been fairly frenetic, are being handled by Ealing Studios Intl.

The Hollywood reporter / Variety

Directed by

Oliver Parker                  

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)

Toby Finlay                 screenplay

Oscar Wilde                 novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray"

	The stakes are high for Henry, but for different reasons to the book,” says Firth. “He realises that he is in some way responsible for creating a monster. But giving Henry a daughter in this film means that something, or rather someone, is at risk, so it’s not just this story of one man’s destruction. It has ramifications.” It also makes the plot more viable for the cinema format. “In the book, Dorian has a whole lifetime of regret, but now we have something we can specifically focus on that makes it worthwhile for him to try and forgive himself. Also, it gives Lord Henry a vulnerability that he otherwise wouldn’t have and we have got a means by which we can care about Dorian, which we wouldn’t have otherwise because, as he says, his life is a monstrous corruption.” This will obviously infuriate some literary purists, who would not be pleased with this retelling of their beloved story. “Absolutely right,” Firth agrees, “but that’s what [the director] Ollie Parker wanted to do with this, open it up to people other than academics and literary enthusiasts. That’s what he did when I worked on The Importance of Being Earnest with him, and it’s something that was fairly well received despite the grumblings of the purists.” Firth also believes that it’s something the author himself would have approved of. “The original book caused some controversy, but Wilde was never a writer who liked to play up to people’s expectations and this is very much in that spirit. The book is still there and will always be there. Ollie did the version of the story that he thinks people will enjoy, and as with any adaptation there is some percentage of our voice and some percentage of Wilde’s."

Cast:

Some Information courtesy of The Internet Movie Database