Up until now, the only screenplays that Christopher Nolan has written have also been directed by him, but that pattern is about to change in a major way. Variety is reporting out of the Toronto International Film Festival that Gemma Arterton and Tim Roth are now set to star in The Keys to the Street, an adaptation of the Ruth Rendell novel of the same name that has been adapted by Nolan and co-writer Michael Stokes.
According to Amazon, the story centers on a woman named Mary Jargo (Arterton). As a means to get away from her psychotic ex-boyfriend (Roth), she takes a job housesitting in Regent Park - one of the most snobbish areas of the city - and while doing so begins to help and feed the homeless people who live nearby, as nobody else in the neighborhood will. After befriending a group of homeless people, Mary discovers that some of them are being murdered and having their heads put on the spiked fence that surrounds the park. The heroine takes it upon herself to solve the murder, and in doing so begins to come out of her shell and face her own personal demons. Also set to star in the film is Max Irons (Red Riding Hood), who will play a man that Mary has an affair with.
Czech director Julius Sevcik is officially attached to direct the film, and production is scheduled to begin at the start of next year in London. According to the trade, the project has been in development for years now with Arterton long attached to play the lead role. Said Executive Producer Kirk D’Amico in a statement, “We think that audiences will love how Christopher Nolan and Michael Stokes have adapted this popular English mystery novel… with a dark edge." Given that Nolan's previous credits include Inception, The Prestige and Memento there's plenty of reason to be excited.
Arterton had a sizable hit earlier this year when she starred in Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, which wound up making $225 million globally on a $50 million budget. She will next be seen staring in the Brad Furman-directed thriller Runner Runner with Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck. You can watch the trailer for the movie below:
Roth, meanwhile, most recently did some work in France with writer/director Eric Rochant, starring alongside Jean Dujardin and Cecile De France in Mobius. Later this year he will have a major role starring alongside Nicole Kidman, Frank Langella, Parker Posey and more in Grace of Monaco, the Oliver Dahan-directed Grace Kelly biopic that's expected to be making an Oscar run this fall.
