ALBAWABA - "Custom of the Country" will be turned into a movie, and Sydney Sweeney will both star in and produce it.
The classic Edith Wharton book is being turned into a movie by Josie Rourke, who directed and wrote "Mary Queen of Scots." Sweeney plays Undine Spragg, a driven woman from the Midwest who moves up the social ladder in New York at the turn of the century. As described in the official press release, Undine Spragg, “armed with beauty, daring/hustle and sheer force of will and unwavering ambition, battles an entrenched elite, fearlessly courting controversy, until love and fortune align.”
A press release says that casting director Nina Gold is putting together the cast around Sydney Sweeney. Main camera work is about to start right away.
Rourke calls Undine Spragg the "original dangerous woman" and thinks that Sweeney's casting was meant to be. She says, "Wharton sat down a century ago and wrote the role for her."
"Edith Wharton's characters have always interested, tempted, and angered readers." "Wharton's best American book was 'The Custom of the Country,' and Undine Spragg races across America and Europe at top speed during a time of huge social and economic change," Rourke said in a statement. "The book is so up-to-date, and while I was writing this version, Sydney Sweeney lived in my head as this famous character. It's like Wharton sat down a hundred years ago and wrote the part for her."
Sofia Coppola had planned to make Wharton's book into a miniseries with Florence Pugh in 2020, but the project, which was set at Apple, never happened.
The movie will be produced by Charles Finch, Sydney Sweeney, Alison Owen, and others from Monumental Pictures and StudioCanal. StudioCanal will pay for and show "Custom of the Country" in theaters in all of its markets, including the UK, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, and Benelux. The company will also start selling the movie around the world at EFM.
There were many years of work that went into making "Custom of the Country" a movie, Finch said. "I love how Josie changed the story and how Sydney will bring power, passion, and fun to the part."
StudioCanal released Sweeney's most recent hit movie, "The Housemaid," in Australia and New Zealand. This project brings them back together. Lionsgate helped make the movie based on Freida McFadden's best-selling horror book, which has made an amazing $250 million around the world so far.
“We are thrilled to be involved in bringing ‘Custom of the Country’ to the big screen, led by Josie Rourke’s vision to carry Edith Wharton’s sharp and timeless observations into a new cinematic era,” said Anna Marsh, CEO of StudioCanal. We are thrilled to work with Sydney Sweeney again as the powerful Undine Spragg. She is a very talented actress.
