Thanks to the likes of Alan Partridge, The Day Today and The Thick Of It, Armando Iannucci has become on of the few people in Britain consistently producing smart, entertaining and popular TV comedy. Of course, he also went big screen last year, co-writing and directing In The Loop, which even got an Oscar nomination for its screenplay.
Now he’s planning to head back into the world of film. The BBC was at Cannes to introduce its new slate of movies yesterday, which include one by Iannucci called Out The Window. Unfortunately there’s not too much news on what the film will be about, but according to Screen International, the plot hinges ‘on voyeurism, the film is about an incident that is witnessed but deeply misinterpreted, setting off a series of events that spiral out of control.’ It’ll have a $20 million budget, is expected to try and land some big Hollywood names, with Iannucci saying he has a lot more physical comedy in mind, than the politically minded In The Loop. Armando will write the script alongside regular collaborators, Roger Drew and Will Smith.
Other movies the BBC have in the works include one by Brick Lane screenwriter Abi Morgan, based on the little known relationship between Charles Dickens and actress Nelly Ternan, based on Claire Tomalins The Invisible Woman. Peter Morgan, who wrote the likes of The Queen and The Damned United, has a new script called Three Sixty, said to be an examination of love and sexual obsession, and they’re also working on Stephen Fry’s Hallalujah!, about the build-up to the first performance of Handel’s Messiah.