Tom Sturridge has won the lead in Thomas Vinterberg's forthcoming adaptation of Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd. The project, from studio Fox Searchlight, will be the Festen director's English language debut. Carey Mulligan and Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts – who made his name on Rust & Bone – co-star.
Far From the Madding Crowd focuses on the consequences of a young woman's relationship with three men at the same time. The 1874 novel has previously been adapted for cinema three times, including a notable 1967 version starring Julie Christie and Terrance Stamp .
Sturridge, who featured in On the Road and The Boat that Rocked, has just completed a Tony-nominated run in his Broadway debut, Orphans, opposite Alec Baldwin. In the new film, he will portray the dashing but arrogant Sergeant Troy. Mulligan most recently starred in Baz Luhrmann's adaption of The Great Gatsby and this winter will be seen in the Coen brothers's Inside Llewyn Davis.
The film is due for release next year.
