In “The Ideal Wife,” directed by Sophie Hyde of “Good Luck, Leo Grande,” Emilia Clarke will play Constance Lloyd, an Irish author who was married to Oscar Wilde. The project, the plot of which is still unknown, is represented by Embankment Films (“The Father,” “The Son”) and will be shopped at this week’s American Film Market, which begins on Tuesday.
“The Ideal Wife” will shed light on Lloyd, an author and feminist activist who participated in the dress reform movement, which advocated for women to wear comfortable clothing rather than the suffocating Victorian dresses of the time. In 1884, Lloyd married Wilde, and the couple had two sons. However, after Wilde was sentenced to two years in prison for homosexuality, which was still illegal at the time (it was only decriminalised in England and Wales in 1967), Lloyd moved to Switzerland with their children, separating them from the writer.
“The Ideal Wife” will be Hyde’s follow-up to “Good Luck, Leo Grande,” which starred Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack and premiered at Sundance and the Berlinale. Searchlight released the film in the United States. “52 Tuesdays,” Hyde’s feature debut, won best director at Sundance and a Crystal Bear at Berlin. “Animals,” her sophomore film, also played at Sundance and won best debut screenplay at the British Independent Film Awards.
“The Ideal Wife” is produced by Olivier Delbosc of Paris-based Curiosa Films (“Stars at Noon”), Chris Curling of Zephyr Films in the United Kingdom, and Matthew Gledhill of Wheelhouse Productions. Pam MacKinnon’s “Clybourne Park,” starring Sarah Paulson, Anthony Mackie, and Martin Freeman; Frances O’Connor’s “Emily,” starring Emma Mackey as author Emily Bront; and Florian Zeller’s “The Son,” starring Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, and Vanessa Kirby, are also on Embankment Films’ slate.
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