Fox Searchlight has set Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett to star in "Notes From a Scandal," a Patrick Marber-scripted adaptation of the Zoe Heller novel. Richard Eyre will direct the film, with shooting to begin August 13th. Scott Rudin and Robert Fox will produce according to Variety.
Blanchett will play Sheba Hart, a free-spirited and charismatic art teacher brought down by scandal when she is arrested for engaging in sexual relations with a 15-year-old student. Dench will play Barbara Covett, a fellow teacher who befriends the younger woman and observes her fall from grace.
Book was published under the title "What Was She Thinking?" Rudin and Searchlight bought Heller's novel in late 2003, hoping to fashion it as an acting vehicle for Dench. Blanchett is currently co-starring with Brad Pitt and Gael Garcia Bernal in "Babel," for Paramount.
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